Reflections on the Upper School Ethics Bowl

These days, we find ethical questions following us throughout almost every aspect of our lives, from AI usage in schools, to religious influence on children, to the rise of Ozempic in weight loss. The New Jersey Regional High School Ethics Bowl proposed questions relating to these issues and more, leading teenagers across states to grapple with important and relevant issues like these. 

In our lives, there are a lot of places where people debate and discuss their thoughts, but people rarely take the time to listen. I’ve had discussions about a variety of topics with my friends or family, and often I’ve felt that rather than trying to open their thinking to other points of view, they were only trying to force me to agree with them, the opposite of what ethics stands for. It was incredible to be in a space where I could have conversations that didn’t escalate into fights, with people who knew how to have a conversation without losing their temper or refusing to see the other side of the story, and something other than the prospect that everything is black or white. 

I’ve always been someone to really question everything. I have always stood for the idea that people, especially teenagers, should have a space to speak their thoughts and most importantly, listen to others' voices. This was my first year on the Ethics Bowl team. At first I was hesitant about the prospect of meeting every day at lunch. I didn’t really know anyone very well but I knew that I enjoyed having the opportunity to have these hard conversations that so many people avoid. As we kept meeting, I got my first case: Case 15, which grappled with AI-generated victim impact statements in court and how we define what is truly real or valid in a courtroom. 

I wrote the case, focusing on every detail, and ended up with a product I was really proud of. As we kept debating and discussing, I began to develop this confidence that I didn’t know I was missing. My speech became more eloquent, I began to speak my words at a better pace, and I realized that this was what Ethics Bowl is about: to understand, to speak, to think. 

The point isn’t to win, it’s to grow, a lesson that could benefit so many people if they only had the opportunity to understand the other side of the story.

Nicole Hoffman ’28