According to a 2022 Pew Research Center survey of US parents, 94% of parents say it’s extremely or very important to them that their children grow up to be honest and ethical adults. 

Ethics bowls are increasingly popular around the country, including the relatively new middle school ethics bowl. To meet the need for more ethics education, in 2024-25 PLATO is introducing several new initiatives, offering a varied menu of opportunities:

• Ethics Clubs – school-based with no predetermined format.
• Online roundtables – facilitated discussions that can include students from around the world.
• Ethics Open – an in-person event with a more formal structure.

For the 2024-25 school year, PLATO is offering stipends to public school teachers interested in serving as Ethics Clubs sponsors. The clubs can be composed of students from a single school or from several, changing venues as desired. Members decide how to structure the clubs.

Club sponsor stipends for the 2024-25 school year are $250. A limited number are available and will be awarded in the order in which accepted applications are received. Please complete and submit the application to the right (below on mobile).

Questions? Contact us at info@plato-philosophy.org.

For several years, PLATO has been running free, online, one-hour roundtables for educators focusing on philosophical and other topics. In winter 2025, PLATO will expand the series by launching a pilot program featuring roundtables devoted to ethics discussions for middle and high school students.

Roundtable moderators will introduce a topic and then facilitate the discussion.  No preparation is necessary, and any middle or high school student will be welcome to register and attend any or all of these free events.

The Ethics Open is a new event format developed by PLATO, which will be piloted in Seattle in spring 2025. The event will be a free, in-person event open to students and schools who register in advance, either as individuals or in teams of 3-5 members. (Individual students will be assigned to teams upon arrival.) The event is intended to be easily accessible, with advance preparation optional. For more information about the Seattle event, including this year’s rules, see the Seattle Ethics Open webpage.

The Seattle Ethics Open will draw from the following six ethics cases, which can be used by anyone interested in organizing an Ethics Open.

• Should We Watch True Crime Dramas? https://www.plato-philosophy.org/wp-content/uploads/Capital-Crime.pdf
  
  
• Evaluating Historical Figures Through a Contemporary Lens https://www.plato-philosophy.org/wp-content/uploads/Judging-Historical.pdf
  
  
• The Benefits and Harms of Gene Editing https://www.plato-philosophy.org/wp-content/uploads/GeneEditing.pdf
  
  
• Should the Military Recruit in Schools? https://www.plato-philosophy.org/wp-content/uploads/Military-Recruit.pdf
  
  
• Using AI in the Classroom https://www.plato-philosophy.org/wp-content/uploads/AI-in-the-Classroom-1.pdf
  
  
• The Ethics of Tipping https://www.plato-philosophy.org/wp-content/uploads/Ethics-of-Tipping.pdf

The Ethics Open will follow a modified Ethics Bowl format, using innovations developed by the Washington State High School Ethics Bowl, such as open dialogue and “cold cases” that no one has seen:

• The event will be comprised of three rounds and a final round.
• One case will be discussed during each round. Cases will be drawn from the six published cases and may include cold cases. 
• Each round will include 1-3 judges and one moderator.
• Round structure:
  • Both teams confer for 10 minutes
  • Each team presents its position for up to 5 minutes
  • Both teams engage in an open dialogue for up to 10 minutes
  • Both teams respond to the judge’s questions for up to 10 minutes

At the end of each round, the moderator will facilitate a whole group discussion involving the two teams, the judge, and audience members.    

If you are interested in hosting an Ethics Open, we are happy to help. Please contact us at info@plato-philosophy.org.

The structure for PLATO’s events begins with a brief description of PLATO and philosophy with young people. We then introduce a prompt that is appropriate for a wide variety of age groups and provokes philosophical thinking, usually about a difficult ethics question. Following the prompt, we facilitate a discussion in much the same way we do in classrooms around the country — first in small, mixed-age groups with a discussion leader, and then in a whole group conversation.

These programs empower families, students, seniors, and other participants to engage philosophically outside of classrooms and provide an opportunity for participants to expand their awareness about the perspectives of other generations. 

These events are free, open to the public, and located in accessible community locations (such as libraries, universities, and public schools).

For more information, contact info@plato-philosophy.org.

How to Organize an Intergenerational Philosophy Event:

• Think about what groups you would like to have in conversation with one another. Some possibilities include:
  • Retirees and high school students
  • K-12 students and parents and/or grandparents
  • High school students with K-5 students
• Find and partner with local groups who serve these populations. For example:
  • Retirement/elder care facilities
  • Local organizations for retired people
  • Local K-12 schools
  • Religious communities
  • Philosophy clubs at middle and high schools
  • Ethics bowl teams at local middle and high schools
• Select a location that is convenient for most people who will participate.
  • Public libraries
  • Public schools
  • Community centers
  • Senior centers
  • Someplace with easy parking, transit access, and that is accessible for people with disabilities
• Find volunteers familiar with facilitating communities of philosophical inquiry to lead small groups
  • Ideally, you want one volunteer per table of 6-8 participants so that someone can help guide and facilitate the conversation at the tables.
• Choose someone to be the lead facilitator for the event.
  • This should be someone with significant experience leading communities of philosophical inquiry.
• Choose the prompt for your discussion.
  • Ethics Bowl cases (excellent for intergenerational philosophy sessions with older students and adults)
  • Picture books
  • Songs, poems, art, activities, etc.
  • For inspiration, see the PLATO Toolkit and Literature Library
• On the day of the event:
  • Pre-arrange who will sit at each table group. Make sure to have a good balance of participants from each age range.
  • Have name tags for participants.
  • Serve some light snacks/beverages.
  • Have available for everyone copies of the prompt, if applicable.
• At the event:
  
  • The lead facilitator welcomes everyone and gives an overall description of the event plan and goals.
  • The lead facilitator (or someone else) reads the prompt aloud.
  • Each table is then asked to spend the next 30-40 minutes discussing the prompt and the questions it raises for the participants.
  • The lead facilitator walks around the room monitoring how each table is doing, offering ideas and questions where helpful.
  • The group comes back together for a whole group discussion, led by the lead facilitator.

Suggestions for a successful event:

• Choose your prompt carefully.
  • You want something that can generate discussion across generations, so the prompt needs to be something to which both groups can connect. For example, social media ethics might not work for a group consisting of high school students and retirees.
• Set clear expectations of how to do philosophy together.
  • The goal is a discussion, not telling people how they should think or trying to teach them about the topic.
  • Listen carefully, share ideas respectfully, ask for clarification when necessary.
  • Discuss in the spirit of curiosity and wonder.
  • All participants have something valuable to contribute whether they are 5 years old or 80 years old.
• It’s best to have a person trained in facilitating communities of philosophical inquiry sitting with each group of participants. These volunteers help guide the conversation and gently redirect participants who may dominate the discussion, try to “educate” others out of a perceived misunderstanding, or hastily dismiss others’ ideas.
  
  
• Do a wrap up at the end, summarizing what was discussed, where the conversation went, and offering people a question or thought to take with them as they leave.