A New Study Buddy
Rebecca Bivona-Guttadauro
It has been a hectic fall quarter. Jack is checking his finals schedule: two exams on Tuesday (back to back) and two on Wednesday. How is he going to possibly do all of this studying? As he sits looking over his notes, Amanda, a classmate sits next to him, and he complains about the amount of work he's going to have to do.
She suggests Jack take a pill to help him concentrate and study better: Adderall. He really doesn't know what Adderall is, but Amanda says it will be okay. She has a prescription (a lot of kids take it for attention deficit disorder to help them focus), and he can trust her. She assures him that many college kids take Adderall and other drugs to help them study during finals week. Does Jack take the pill, believing his classmate and hoping that this will really help? Or does he decide that maybe it's not such a good idea to be taking pills to study especially if it's someone else's prescription?
RESOURCES
Is Using Study Drugs Cheating?
Towards responsible use of cognitive-enhancing drugs by the healthy (Nature)
Framework for Ethical Decision Making
Photo by hipsxxheart available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial License.