Westlake Rotary asks, 'What's right?

BIG QUESTIONS-Area high school students and community leaders join in roundtable discussions during the Homer Dickerson Ethics Conference at Oaks Christian High School. In a world too often split between black and white, the Westlake Village Rotary Club explored the subtle shades of gray with local students during the annual Homer Dickerson Youth Ethics Conference.

Founded in 1999, the conference gives juniors and seniors from Agoura, Oak Park, Oaks Christian and Westlake high schools the opportunity to debate moral questions with local leaders.

"It's an opportunity for adults and students to interact and give their own spin about certain situations," said Bill Notthoff, conference chairperson.

The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Fred Lindberg, followed by a group discussion on a hypothetical situation intended to spark debate on integrity, ethics and leadership characteristics.

This year's scenario involved a football player who uses his girlfriend to help him cheat on exams, and hints to friends that he plans to get the girl drunk in order to "get to know her better."

Groups were formed of adults and students together. Each group was assigned a different question regarding the behavior of the football player.

These questions included:

+"Does anyone benefit from (the player's) actions?"

+"Who is less at fault for the cheating incident?"

+"How will patterns in this relationship affect them (the player and his girlfriend) in the future?"

After finishing their discussions, each group gave an oral report on its findings to the other participants at the conference.

"It's quite enlightening-the kids are very forthright," Notthoff said. "You get a lot of varied opinions about cheating with some feeling it's all right and others totally opposed to it. There's a lot of gray area, but as long as you build character, you're on the right track."

The event was introduced to the Westlake Village Rotary Club by Ray Thompson, city manager of Westlake Village, after he attended a similar conference in Rancho Palos Verdes.

The conference was named after Homer Dickerson, a member of the Westlake Village Rotary Club who passed away in 1990. According to club members, the conference honors the "many ethical attributes reflected in (Dickerson's) everyday life."

In recent years, the conference has doubled from 100 participants to more than 200.

"The kids always say it's beneficial and that they want to do it again the following year," said Notthoff.

Students are grouped with youth from other high schools, providing everyone an opportunity to network and establish new friendships.

Adult participants are recruited and invited to the event by the Education Committee of the Chamber of Commerce.

"It's a great event because the adults are shown how the younger generations think, and the kids are given guidance by the adults," said Notthoff.