Socratic Method.

Facilitator: You're offered a $500 bike for $100. You know it's hot. What do you do?

(One boy in the group takes the bait.)

Boy: I would buy it.

Facilitator: What would you do if you got caught?

Boy: I bought it. I would just refer them [the police] to the person who sold it to me.

Facilitator: All right, you're in court, and you say, "Well, it really wasn't me. I didn't know it was stolen."

Boy: I didn't.

Facilitator: But wouldn't that be a lie?

Boy: I did buy it. I paid for it. I paid $100 for it.

Facilitator: All right, but didn't you know that it was stolen? You're on the witness stand right now.

Boy: I’d have no choice but to say I knew it was stolen.

Facilitator: What if You weren't on the witness stand, and you were just talking to the cops, and they came over to the house, and they said "Hey, what about this bike you've got here. Did you know that it was stolen?"

Boy: Spur of the moment, I may just say, "No, I didn’t know."

Facilitator: Okay, what would make you say that?

Boy: Initial fear of being locked up. (laughter from the group.)

Facilitator: What would you think of yourself now that you’ve said that you would lie to the cops out of fear, that you would probably be the kind of person who would say, l’ll go for this. $500, $100. That’s not a bad deal at all. I need a bike." What vision would you have of yourself at this point?

Boy: Well, nowadays , from what I’ve been learning, I personally would feel low. In a yesterday sense, I wouldn’t have cared. I was younger. I was more immature. I didn’t care.

Facilitator: Do you have a different image of yourself now?

Boy: Yes. Prideful. I think more of myself today than I would have yesterday. Because I know that there’s better for me out there instead of just running around stealing. You know, that’s no good, that won’t get me to where I want to go. Okay, I’ve got big dreams, hopes. I feel like this: I can make it.

(One of the participants in the group discussion can’t contain herself. She speaks directly to the boy.)

Girl: But you still bought the bike! (All the kids laugh. The boy gets the point.)

We suspect that even Socrates would have smiled at seeing such a clear contradiction between the boy's stated beliefs and his behavioral choices. As the boy wends his way through the challenging process of making and then justifying choice after choice, he, as well as the rest of the group, is getting a natural lesson in character.


(source)