The Rotary Club of Pismo Beach / Five Cites
Selma Rahim, First Place
Grade 5, Ocean View Elementary School
Teacher: Rachael Henze Principal: Sarah Butler
“Being a good person does not depend on your religion or status in life, your race or skin color, political views or culture. It depends on how good you treat others.” The 4-way test is truly a great way of figuring out whether or not your thoughts, actions, and words are acceptable. Many people do not realize that simply asking themselves a few questions, is key to a positive and beneficial attitude. I believe that the 4-way test is vital for someone’s attitude simply because of the questions they contain.
Firstly, the first two questions that should be asked in the 4-way test are: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? I’m sure we have all needed to take a moment to ask this to ourselves. I personally have had to ask these questions to myself. This year, I was on the play structure playing and I knew all the rules. I chose not to follow them since I was running on the play structure. When a teacher saw my friends running she explained to my friends why we shouldn’t run however, she asked me if I was running and I said no. I then said that all of my friends were running and not me. Overall, if I had asked myself the questions of whether or not I was telling the truth, and if it was fair to all concerned before, I would have not made the mistake of lying.
Next, the final two questions that should be asked in the 4-way test are: Will it build good will and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned? My friends and I had a bit of an issue about talking about each others back, which we all knew probably wasn’t the best thing to do. So, one day my friends and I got together and pinky swore we would never talk bad about each other. We agreed to this because we didn’t like the fact that one minute we would be laughing and talking and the next we would be talking about each other and saying negative things. To sum up this paragraph, my friends and I decided to ask ourselves the two questions of whether or not what we were doing would benefit our friendships, and if what we were doing was beneficial to all concerned. We all decided the answer was no so we decided to use the 4-way test as a solution.
Finally, It does not matter who you are individually, but it does matter how you treat yourself and the others around you. Using the 4-way test is essential because it helps you make better and more beneficial life decisions. We should all strive to ask ourselves whether or not what we’re about to do, think, or say is right because that is what will help make our society more and more successful.
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