Look out for those who care
about you!
Loyalty is being a consistent follower of something.
This can be your school, friends, family, or even
favorite sports team! It means to standby, stick up
for and protect your family, friends, school and
country. Loyalty is a special moral responsibility to
promote and protect the interests of others. This
duty goes beyond the normal obligation we all
share to care for others.
Being a loyal person is a great quality for a person to have. It
shows you can be counted on, dependable, and faithful to
someone or something. However, loyalty can be a tricky thing.
There are some times when others might ask us to put their best
interests first, when this really might not be the “right” thing to
do. Anytime someone asks us to be loyal to them when it is
unethical, we need to make sure that we are doing what is the
“right” choice. An example of this might be if a friend asks you
to lie for him, when you know doing so is wrong. In cases like
these, you need to choose to do what is right.
You may be asking yourself, “So if I
choose to be loyal to someone,
what does that mean for me?” The
next five slides will help you answer
that question!
It is not always easy to be loyal to a
friend. Sometimes when someone
makes you angry, it is easy to gossip
about what he or she did to make you
mad. But true loyalty means that you
are a faithful friend even when it is
hard. Be very careful with private
information that could embarrass or
hurt others.
It is easy sometimes to say you
are trustworthy to a friend, but
it is more important to prove
you are by your actions. Loyalty
is an act, not a saying!
Sometimes a friend may expect you to be
loyal when it is .not easy to do. But, think
about your favorite sports team; would you
give up on them for losing one game? You
wouldn’t want to do the same thing to a
friend!
Sometimes, in order to be a loyal friend, you may have to
sacrifice (give up) something else. It can be easy to go
along with the crowd, but if it means not being loyal to a
friend, you shouldn’t do it. Imagine if you are in the lunch
line and someone is making fun of your best friend. This
person tells you that in order to be cool, you should make
fun of him or her. But is being “cool” for a minute really
worth losing a friend?
Here’s the best fact of all: loyalty will be
rewarded. If you are a trustworthy and loyal
.
friend to another, he or she will be a good
friend to you, as well. It is a great thing to
have a best friend, and being loyal is the
best way to make sure you’re friendship
never ends.