Prompt
You are 22 and living at home for the summer. Your 17-year-old sister recently turned off the location-sharing app that your parents require her to keep on her phone. She told you privately that she has been spending weekend evenings at the apartment of her 20-year-old boyfriend, whom your parents have forbidden her to see, and that she is always home by midnight. She says she turned off the app because your parents check it constantly and she feels watched. Your parents have noticed. They ask you whether you know where she has been going, and they say they will take away her car unless someone tells them the truth. What would you do?
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How to approach this question
What this question tests
- Ethical reasoning
- Communication
- Empathy and compassion
How to approach it
This confidentiality station tests whether you'll keep a younger sibling's confidence when your parents ask directly and her car depends on your answer. Name the people involved: your 17-year-old sister and her growing independence, your parents and their responsibility for a minor, and your own relationship with all three. Think about what you actually know and what would worry you, such as whether she's safe at her boyfriend's apartment. Consider options such as encouraging your sister to talk to your parents herself, helping negotiate a different arrangement, or telling your parents only that you'll talk to her. Weigh her privacy against her safety and your honesty with your parents. When new details suggest the relationship may be controlling, explain why safety now outweighs privacy and how you'd support her without pushing her away.
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