{"id":605,"date":"2024-09-30T16:23:57","date_gmt":"2024-09-30T16:23:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/textbook.mediasmarts.ca\/navigatingstudent\/chapter\/sneaky-excuses\/"},"modified":"2025-03-21T20:09:50","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T20:09:50","slug":"sneaky-excuses","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/textbook.mediasmarts.ca\/navigatingstudent\/chapter\/sneaky-excuses\/","title":{"raw":"Sneaky Excuses","rendered":"Sneaky Excuses"},"content":{"raw":"Sneaky excuses are the ways that we tell ourselves that it\u2019s okay to do something that we know is wrong (or to not <\/em>do something that we know is right.) They\u2019re called sneaky <\/em>excuses because a lot of the time, we don\u2019t even realize we\u2019re making an excuse!\r\n\r\nThat\u2019s why it\u2019s important to learn to recognize them so that we can tell whether we\u2019re doing something because we really have a good reason<\/em>, or just because we\u2019re making an excuse<\/em>.\r\n\r\nHere are the four most common kinds of sneaky excuses:\r\n
\r\n

Denying the Harm<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

\r\n\r\nOne of the easiest excuses to fall for is denying that something did harm to anyone, or minimizing how much harm was done. Sometimes we do this by comparing it to something that\u2019s worse, so that the thing we did looks better by comparison.\r\n\r\nExamples:\r\n
    \r\n \t
  • Shoplifting isn\u2019t a big deal compared to serious crimes like robbery or murder.<\/li>\r\n \t
  • Being bullied is just a part of growing up. It doesn\u2019t really hurt anyone.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
    \r\n

    Justifying the Harm<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

    \r\n\r\nAnother common excuse is to say that you had <\/em>to do something bad, or that it was okay to do it because it did more good than bad.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s true that sometimes doing things that are wrong will do more good than harm. For example, during the Civil Rights movement people broke racist laws as a way of showing people that those laws were unfair. But it\u2019s important to make sure that you\u2019re really doing something for a good cause, and not looking for excuses to justify doing something you know is wrong.\r\n\r\nExamples:\r\n
      \r\n \t
    • Getting bullied teaches kids to be tough.<\/li>\r\n \t
    • If somebody in your family breaks the law, you should lie to protect them because family is more important than anything else.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
      \r\n

      Shifting the Responsibility<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

      \r\n\r\nIf we can\u2019t find a way to convince ourselves that something isn\u2019t really wrong, we may use an excuse to say it isn\u2019t our fault. This can mean either shifting the blame to a specific person, or just finding a reason why we <\/em>aren\u2019t to blame.\r\n\r\nExamples:\r\n
        \r\n \t
      • If you tell someone to do something bad, it\u2019s not your fault if they go ahead and do it.<\/li>\r\n \t
      • You shouldn\u2019t blame someone for something they did while they were drunk, because they couldn\u2019t control themselves.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
        \r\n

        Blaming the Victim<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

        \r\n\r\nSometimes we don\u2019t just shift responsibility away from ourselves, we actually blame the person who was hurt by what we did. It\u2019s easy to be fooled by this excuse because you can pretend that you didn\u2019t do anything wrong at all.\r\n\r\nExamples:\r\n
          \r\n \t
        • If you act weird or dress in a funny way, you can\u2019t complain if people tease you.<\/li>\r\n \t
        • If somebody bullies other people, they deserve to be bullied back.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nNow see if you can spot what kind of sneaky excuses each of these is:\r\n\r\n[h5p id=\"103\"]\r\n\r\n ","rendered":"

          Sneaky excuses are the ways that we tell ourselves that it\u2019s okay to do something that we know is wrong (or to not <\/em>do something that we know is right.) They\u2019re called sneaky <\/em>excuses because a lot of the time, we don\u2019t even realize we\u2019re making an excuse!<\/p>\n

          That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to learn to recognize them so that we can tell whether we\u2019re doing something because we really have a good reason<\/em>, or just because we\u2019re making an excuse<\/em>.<\/p>\n

          Here are the four most common kinds of sneaky excuses:<\/p>\n

          \n
          \n

          Denying the Harm<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/header>\n

          \n

          One of the easiest excuses to fall for is denying that something did harm to anyone, or minimizing how much harm was done. Sometimes we do this by comparing it to something that\u2019s worse, so that the thing we did looks better by comparison.<\/p>\n

          Examples:<\/p>\n

            \n
          • Shoplifting isn\u2019t a big deal compared to serious crimes like robbery or murder.<\/li>\n
          • Being bullied is just a part of growing up. It doesn\u2019t really hurt anyone.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
            \n
            \n

            Justifying the Harm<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/header>\n

            \n

            Another common excuse is to say that you had <\/em>to do something bad, or that it was okay to do it because it did more good than bad.<\/p>\n

            It\u2019s true that sometimes doing things that are wrong will do more good than harm. For example, during the Civil Rights movement people broke racist laws as a way of showing people that those laws were unfair. But it\u2019s important to make sure that you\u2019re really doing something for a good cause, and not looking for excuses to justify doing something you know is wrong.<\/p>\n

            Examples:<\/p>\n

              \n
            • Getting bullied teaches kids to be tough.<\/li>\n
            • If somebody in your family breaks the law, you should lie to protect them because family is more important than anything else.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
              \n
              \n

              Shifting the Responsibility<\/em><\/p>\n<\/header>\n

              \n

              If we can\u2019t find a way to convince ourselves that something isn\u2019t really wrong, we may use an excuse to say it isn\u2019t our fault. This can mean either shifting the blame to a specific person, or just finding a reason why we <\/em>aren\u2019t to blame.<\/p>\n

              Examples:<\/p>\n

                \n
              • If you tell someone to do something bad, it\u2019s not your fault if they go ahead and do it.<\/li>\n
              • You shouldn\u2019t blame someone for something they did while they were drunk, because they couldn\u2019t control themselves.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
                \n
                \n

                Blaming the Victim<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/header>\n

                \n

                Sometimes we don\u2019t just shift responsibility away from ourselves, we actually blame the person who was hurt by what we did. It\u2019s easy to be fooled by this excuse because you can pretend that you didn\u2019t do anything wrong at all.<\/p>\n

                Examples:<\/p>\n

                  \n
                • If you act weird or dress in a funny way, you can\u2019t complain if people tease you.<\/li>\n
                • If somebody bullies other people, they deserve to be bullied back.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

                  Now see if you can spot what kind of sneaky excuses each of these is:<\/p>\n

                  \n