Honor System a Professional Responsibility - Essay Example

Full topic and Section # of Honor Everywhere we go and everything that we do at a specific place requires some outline to it. The fact that we cannot do everything everywhere says that there are certain rules for behaving in places and if those rules are broken, there will be a price to pay for it. Taking this one step ahead, if we are in a community of some sort like a school or something, then the rules to be obeyed are much more than just rules. There is a certain attitude and mindset that is required from members of a community.

The members represent that particular community and therefore all their actions are associated with this community. They cannot afford any blunder in their behavior which may lead others to think anything in contrast to the behavior and belief which was expected of that person. This set of rules, this guideline that is there to direct members on how to act or more specifically, how NOT to act, is called the honor code. In simple terms, it is there to uphold the honor of the community by avoiding any action which goes against its teachings.

There are majorly two types of honor codes. One is academic and the other is for forces. The academic honor code is highly evolved into becoming perfect now. All major colleges and universities have their own honor codes which have been perfected to their own standards by trial and error. Students have found loopholes in each one of them and when discovered, the holes were filled by re writing the code for the new students. The result is that the present honor codes, though different, are very well defined and do not give any excuse to any student to behave in a way regarded as unacceptable.

The honor codes for forces are present for all three, the Naval, Air Force and Military. At the heart of these honor codes, is the military honor code. Being trusted by the public for the welfare and security of that whole country, the military honor code is well defined and comprises of the essence of responsibility. It reads that "A cadet will not lie, cheat, or steal, nor tolerate those who do." (USAF Academy, 1985)This is all very interesting. Surely it shows how thoroughly the code encompasses the whole idea of the organization.

The soldier knows by reading the code what his duties and responsibilities are and how to go about fulfilling them. This will help shape his life at the academies. From the very start he knows what is required of him and he will be following a clear cut path towards becoming the sort of soldier and commander that is required and expected of him by the nation. This development was only possible because of this honor code, something which he knew is built into him and which he cannot go against, like a religious practice.

He knows that he has thousands like him who are depending upon him not to let their dignity down by ignoring those words.References1. Ann Lathrop, Kathleen Foss (2005) Guiding Students from Cheating and Plagiarism to Honesty and Integrity. Libraries Unlimited2. USAF Academy (1985) Military professional ethics code of conduct and military academies honor codes. Diane Publishing