--- title: Whistle-blowing: when to tell — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Whistle-blowing: when to tell», a lesson of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Whistle-blowing means telling someone in charge about wrongdoing in a group you belong to, like a referee blowing a whistle to stop --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/45-whistle-blowing-when-to-tell/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Religion ethics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/) / Whistle-blowing: when to tell # Whistle-blowing: when to tell Lesson 45 of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school: 17 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/religion-ethics/45-whistle-blowing-when-to-tell/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/45-whistle-blowing-when-to-tell/0/) — Whistle-blowing means telling someone in charge about wrongdoing in a group you belong to, like a referee blowing a whistle to stop a foul. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/45-whistle-blowing-when-to-tell/1/) — Picture a few classmates secretly picking on a younger child behind the bike sheds: everyone knows, nobody says anything, and the little one has no one on their side until someone is brave enough to tell. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/45-whistle-blowing-when-to-tell/2/) — Telling to protect someone is not the same as "snitching" to get someone into trouble; protecting the vulnerable matters more than staying quiet for the group. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/45-whistle-blowing-when-to-tell/3/) — Jesus taught that when someone does wrong you can first go to them on your own (Matthew 18:15), but when someone is in danger you go straight to a trusted adult; the Bible also says "speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves" (Proverbs 31:8). - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/45-whistle-blowing-when-to-tell/4/) — Speaking up can cost you friends, which is why it takes courage; for a child today, it means knowing your trusted adults and using your voice for people and animals who have none. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/45-whistle-blowing-when-to-tell/5/) — Whistle-blowing means telling someone in charge about wrongdoing in a group you belong to. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/45-whistle-blowing-when-to-tell/7/) — When classmates secretly bully a younger child, protecting the vulnerable child matters more than loyalty to the group. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/45-whistle-blowing-when-to-tell/8/) — Some children call any telling "snitching" to stop people reporting harm. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/45-whistle-blowing-when-to-tell/9/) — Reporting harm to protect someone is different from telling just to get someone into trouble. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/45-whistle-blowing-when-to-tell/10/) — If a friend has done damage, such as scratching a teacher's car, a good first step is to encourage them to own up. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/45-whistle-blowing-when-to-tell/11/) — Responsibility, fairness to the victim and loyalty to the friend all matter in such a case. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/45-whistle-blowing-when-to-tell/12/) — Whistle-blowers can lose friends, and adults can lose their jobs, so speaking up can be costly. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/45-whistle-blowing-when-to-tell/13/) — Jesus taught going to the person first to put things right (Matthew 18:15). - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/45-whistle-blowing-when-to-tell/14/) — If someone is in danger or being hurt, you should go straight to a trusted adult rather than talking to the wrongdoer first. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/45-whistle-blowing-when-to-tell/15/) — Trusted adults are safe grown-ups who can help, such as parents, teachers, youth leaders and school staff. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/45-whistle-blowing-when-to-tell/16/) — Anonymous reporting means telling without giving your name; it can protect the reporter, but it can also be misused to spread false stories. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/45-whistle-blowing-when-to-tell/18/) — Those without a voice include animals, babies and small children, and anyone too scared to speak. - ← previous: [Cheating, rules and games](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/44-cheating-rules-and-games/) - next →: [Animals](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/46-animals/) - ↑ back to [Religion ethics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/)