Rose Lawrence, Aryiah Bowie, teacher Marcy Bennett, and Jamie Emerick were guests at the Lima Rotary Club on Monday.
Dean Brown | The Lima News
LIMA —The Rotarian Four-Way Test is a set of ethical guidelines that were created by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor in 1932, as a way for Rotarians to guide their personal and professional lives. The Four-Way Test consists of four questions that Rotarians should ask themselves when faced with a decision:
Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
Area middle school students were invited to write an essay explaining how the Four-Way Test could be applied to their lives. The authors of three essays judged to be the best were invited to read their essays to the Lima Rotary Club at its regular weekly meeting Monday.
Jamie Emerick, a seventh-grade student at Liberty Arts Magnet, used the test to evaluate the educational value of video games. Considering the question “Will it be beneficial to all concerned?” Emerick said, “This entire essay, I talked about how all these games have some benefit but it wouldn’t be right if I talked about the positives without listing some negatives. As we talked about earlier, video games have been linked to bad behaviors.” In the end, “Video games are proven to help with reading, strategy, trouble shooting, puzzle solving, memory and teamwork. This passed the Four-Way Test.”
Rose Lawrence and seventh-grade students at Liberty wrote about the pros and cons of children having cell phones. “Using the Four-Way Test, it is possible to come up with a claim, ‘No, children should not be allowed to have a fully functional phone.’ If your child in fact has a phone without parental controls and restrictions, there are consequences that negatively impact the child’s health.”
Aryiah Bowie, a seventh-grade student at Liberty, used the Four-Way Test to weigh options when considering a Historic Black College and University (HBCU) as part of her higher education choices. In answering, “Is it the truth?” Bowie said, “The truth is that HBCUs have a strong connection with their students due to the historical and cultural history and creating educational opportunities for African American students to receive a college degree in jobs as doctors, nurses or teachers.”
These students have used the Four-Way Test vividly in their daily lives, proving that the test is not merely a 91-year-old document but a constantly evolving test still applicable in today’s society.
Reach Dean Brown at 567-242-0409
