Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Trust

On a scale of 1-10, to what extent do you trust the people around you? Briefly explain your answer by responding to the questions below:

· Do you completely trust your friends? Your family? Your teachers?
· Do you think they would ever betray you? If so, why and how?
· Could you ever betray them?
· What types of situations make people betray others?

61 comments:

robertc2012 said...

I definitely trust my family more than the other options. The longer I know a person, the more I can figure out if I can trust them. If someone goofs up in some sort of way, I have a hard time regaining my trust in them. I try my best not to betray others, but humans aren't perfect.
Situations that make people betray each other can either be accidental or not. If a student forgets to do his group project, then it is more an accident. If someone purposefully does something to hurt someone, such as messing up a presentation that their friends worked hard on just to get some laughs, then they should not be as easy to regain trust in.
For example, if I started ranting about something off-topic such as how the music Mrs. Smith is playing right now is loud and distracting to me, then Mrs. Smith would no longer trust me with my blogging because I basically blew it.

AustinW2012 said...

I like to think of myself as a trusting and loyal person but when I think about it I'm not always that way. I think I trust my family on about a 8. Most things I will tell them but there's a level 9 that I'll only tell myself. My friends are about 7. Just below what I'll tell my family but usually I tell my friends and family different things as they are not interested in the same things. I think most people close to me would not betray me unless the situation gets to a certain point. Where that point is varies in each individual and you can't tell where it is until it happens. I don't believe that anyone would go to the extreme of never telling, there is always something that will make them give in. Like in my previous point I would never betray them until it gets to that certain point. Honestly I don't know where that point is yet, but I do know that it varies on the information that is being held. If it's something big it will take a lot more than something smaller. You may be wondering why I left level 9 as my highest earlier, well that's because level ten is those things that even I don't want to know or trust anyone with. Some situations on the extreme side of making people betray others is threats but there are situations even as simple as talking things out of people.
-AustinW2012

john c said...

Well, On a scale of one to ten, I probably trust my famliy at an eight and my friends at a 6.8. I don't think anyone can be completetly trusted. Even friends, family, and teachers. I think everyone is capable of betrayal, but, we all have the capability to keep secerets and remain trustworthy. And, I have to be honest, I could probably betray them too. Finally, I think that all sorts of situations cause people to betray others. One, for example, is peer pressure. Just having a simple converstion can end up with the disclosing of information. Another can come out of revenge. If a person is angry with you, it becomes easier to spread secerets that you would rather have been kept seceret. But, I have to come back to the veiw that people are naturally good and can resist the temptation to be untruthful.

PeterH2012 said...

I would say that right now, everyone around me is a six on the trust scale. I am pretty open with people, but not enough to give everyone a ten. My friends, good friends i have known forever, are an eight. I can freely talk to them, and they will give good advice on how to take care of problems.
My family is very trustworthy and they get a nine. I will probably go to my brother and sister first, but my parents are also pretty trustworthy. I am most likely to talk to my sister first, she still lives at home, and were really close.
My Teachers probably get a seven, because they can’t talk about their students to other students. I also spend the majority of my time with them, their job is to give me what I need to be successful, and that includes advice.
Some of my friends that I don’t know that well, or don’t know really well. I think they would betray me, but im not sure. I know my family and really good friends wouldn’t betray me. There are a couple friends who I have known for 10 years or so, and they wouldn’t do anything to hurt or betray me.
I don’t know if I would betray my friends, it really depends on the context. I think the kinds of situations that drive people to betray others are found every day. If someone was trying to impress someone, or if they were pressured into it by other friends

connorm said...

I don't really trust my friends because they are sometimes jerks to me about stuff that doesn't matter. They are real sensitive like a burn or teasing and then they overreact to it and get real angry. My sister would stab me in the back with a spear if she had a chance. For example the other day I had a box of poppers in my drawer and she searched my entire room for a yearbook and found the poppers and showed my dad to get me in trouble. My teachers have always been real nice to me and have never told anyone else about anything in my academic career. I don't like the word betray here because it sounds kind of cheesy so lets go with something like disregard your wants. I think they would and know they have before. Now i just hang out with the golf team instead of my friends from middle school. The seniors on the team are a lot of fun to hang with and they are all really funny and don't do anything i guess that would be a sense of betrayal. I would definitely do something like a betrayal i mean secrets are stupid and in the end everyone will know anyways so whats the point of not sharing it anyway so i guess I'm not trustworthy.

KyleL2012 said...

well, when it comes to trust, i have been let down a lot of times from friends, family, co workers, and people like that. so my trust scale is somewhat going down. i never fully trust someone with anything, but i do let people start out with some trust. the only way people can lose that trust is with betrayal and lies. truth and honesty earns you trust and forgivenesss, as said by spongebob. so on a scale of 1-10,i'd start them out with a 3.5 and they can work their way up. i never give up the possibility that someone could betray me. because it is always possible. so the trust factor for anyone is 9, and it can't go higher. the lowest though is 1 because everyone deserves some chances, and the only way to get trust back is to start out with some and build on it. I try never to betray my friends, but it happens sometimes. i feel the greater good is against them and that's when i betray them. this happens rarely but it still happens. i think that the most common situation for betrayal is when it will benefit the betrayer or he/she thinks it will benefit the betrayee. say for example that someone tells someone else about a crush or something. then the betrayer might tell the crushee about it in hope that he/she will understand and help out the betrayee. it sometimes works, but rarely. the betraer might use the info to try to gain off of it like keeping the betrayee under stress and mercy, which is the worst kind of betrayal (blackmail). so the most common situationis that the betrayer will gain or the betrayee might gain and the betrayer thinks he will.

stephaniel2012 said...

1. I trust the world with a scale of 1. It would be 0 if my very closest friends didn't balance that out. I have found that there really is no one in the world that you really can trust. I don't even trust my own parents. I never know if they're just saying things, or if they're actually telling me what's going on.

As far as my friends go, however, my trust is marginally mediocre. I have only held on to one friend from my young childhood. And even she, I don't trust with what's going on inside of me. I've learned that with no one can you believe that they always have your best interests in mind. Sometimes they lose it and spill everything to the wrong people. I only feel completely okay in telling someone something about me, if I have information on them that I could blackmail them with. I know it sounds awful, but that's the only way that you know they won't ruin you, because you can ruin them back. It's cold, but it's life. Frankly, life sucks.

I think and I know that I have had friends and will have friends that betray me. It's unavoidable. Like I said, there are people that just slip up sometimes, and there is nothing that you can do to change that. Sometimes, things go on between two or more people in any given relationship, and they turn their backs on each other. It's funny, because then you end up just screwing each other. When that happens, there really isn't a thing you can do about it.

Could I ever betray them? Yes. Have I ever betrayed them? Yes.
Would I want to betray them? No.
Enough said.

Uncontrolled situations and situations involving those lovely 'he said, she said' comments normally lead to something happening that wasn't exactly planned. Often time, it betrays someone. And what's worse, is that I find people I talk to oftenly confiding in me about something that they swore to keep secret to someone else. But who's to say that I'm not going to do the same thing as them. And then, suddenly, everyone knows what that one person is hiding.

I have just learned to deal with it, you know? I've learned to deal with the fact that life sucks, people betray you, you betray others, and somehow - sickeningly enough - we're in harmony.

Anonymous said...

I'd give a five for my trust scale. I find it very hard to trust people. I only trust four of my friends, and none of them live in Colorado, so I'm not really afraid to tell them my secrets at all. In my family, I only really trust those I love to spend time with. My mom, grandma, oma/opa, my cousin, and his parents. I don't trust any of my teachers. At all. I'm not afraid to say it. I don't trust them because you can never know what they'll be like on one day, and you only see them for about an hour a day. You never really spend any quality time with them. The only time my three friends would betray me would be when we're playing video games. My friend in Ohio would never betray me. I do not care about a word Ms. Smith says about "highest bidders" or "the hot seat". I've been betrayed in my family before. Mainly by my dad. I have nothing else to say about the topic. And with teachers, well, I must say that they've never betrayed me, but never given me a reason to enjoy their company. I couldn't betray my friends, it isn't a physical thing, it's a 100% mental incapability. I could never live with myself if I betrayed a friend, no matter how serious it was. With family, I could only betray certain members that I would not name now. I'd easily betray teachers, if the price was high enough. If I was to break any rules, the price would have to be REALLY high for me to betray teachers, though.
People betray each other in many different situations. This includes when there is a high sum of money involved, when another family member is in trouble, or if a loved one cheats on him or her. Most people would do anything to take revenge. Revenge could be as drastic as killing someone, or robbing someone, or just never talking to someone again.

Maxe2012 said...

I would say 6. My parents fight a lot and they disagree about pretty much everything. Unfortunately, they break a lot of their promises and always make threats. I don't know when they will follow through with anything. As for my siblings I would like to say I know a lot about them but i don't and that means i can't put much faith in them. I trust my teachers. I don't think they would ever betray me. Teachers do, occasionally, mess up grades but it isn't on purpose. So I do trust my teachers a lot. I am not really sure how much I can trust my friends. They do not really keep secrets well. But I know they would never completely betray me so I have some trust in them.

I don't know I lie to people sometimes but it is mostly to avoid a conflict. I don't think i would betray my teachers though. I'm not really sure how I could. But I wouldn't try to betray anyone.

Situations where someone could get hurt are where betrayal happens a lot. Also, situations where there would be some sort of reward for betrayal are common times of betrayal.

ericak2012 said...

Trust is very dependent...it depends on who the person you're trusting is, who is trusting you, and about what. For me, it depends on what the person does. On a scale of 1-10 about how much I trust people I would say about 6. There are some certain people who I trust with EVERYTHING, and they definitely bring up the number. But then there are those who I really just do NOT trust with anything, and they bring the number down.

Trust with friends is very important to me. There are some people who I am completely in denial about them ever not being trustful...I know it could happen, but I'm just not going to believe it. And there are those friends who are good friends, but I am certainly not going to trust them with everything going on in my life.

Trusting family is a good thing. Although there are certain things that you trust your family on, there are others that they may not be the best for. Different family members are different too. For example, you wouldn't completely trust a little sister would you?

Trusting teachers is a good thing because they teach you. If you don't trust them on what you're learning then you aren't going to learn.

Could I ever betray someone who trusts me? Well they trust me because they trust that I won't betray them. Depending on if it's them that might get hurt out of what they are trusting in me, then I would have to betray their trust in me. But other than that, if it's something that they have trusted in me, then I can't betray it because they have trusted me for a reason.

mariep2012 said...

When I think about trust, a lot of things come to mind. I would say that it is sort of like a pact that you with make someone else until something better comes along. For example, if a husband betrays his wife, it's not because he doesn't love her anymore necessarily, but because he sees something better.

It seems like trust is supposed to be about others, like how to keep things to yourself, and how to be a person that sort of lives for the other one. I think it is some sort of a version of love. But when something gets in the way of that, something better, it becomes all about what is best for you, you, you. And I also think that trust is so delicate and can be lost so easily. It takes so long for someone to gain trust from someone, but when they slip up once… poof, it's gone.

When it comes to the people around me, I want to trust them, but you can never know. I feel that everyone has the opportunity to hold someone’s trust, and to lose it at any moment, it just all depends what you come up against. I’m not saying that I think that my family and friends don’t know how to control their emotions, just that sometimes temptations can prevent you from thinking rationally and what would be the right thing to do in the situation.

ashleys2012 said...

The decision of whether to trust or not comes up everyday of everyone’s lives. One can either decide to trust everyone completely or not trust at all. There are both plus sides and bad sides to both of these scenarios. Scenario 1, can trust everyone completely, tell them everything, all secrets, stories, etc. The only problem is taking the risk of getting hurt, as quoted by Mrs. Anne Smith “When a person is in the hot seat they will sell their soul.”
Scenario 2, one can have no trust at all. The only person to trust is yourself. Now, the good side to this scenario is that you aren’t letting others hurt you. The huge problem is you are hurting yourself. There needs to be trust to build any kind of relationship.
Because of these two scenarios, I try to aim my trust level towards the middle, about 5. As far as completely trusting my friends, teachers and family my answer is no. Of course there is trust; trust is in every successful relationship. However, my rule of thumb is to never trust someone 100%. When asked if they would ever betray me, my answer would be yes they could disappoint me.
In situations where people have to make a just decision of who to defend, this is where the trust decisions come in. When it comes down to the bottom line, they are looking out for themselves first, you are second…third…one hundredth in line to them. This is why you can never trust someone 100%. Honestly, I would do the same thing if I were in their shoes. I bet when you read that last sentence you were thinking what a shallow person I must be. But quite honestly, if you were in those shoes too, I guarantee you you would do the same thing.

katiez2012 said...

On a scale from 1-10 I have to say that I trust different people at different levels. I guess you could say that everyone is different for me. I definitely trust my closet friends the most right now. As far as I know, none of them have really let me down or betrayed me. You never really have friends like the ones that you do in high school. I think they are the best that you can get at this age because everyone is going through the same things. I trust m friends at about a level of 6. I don’t really trust anyone completely so for now that’s the highest anyone is getting. I do trust my family, but not as much. I guess they don’t really know me as well and I’m kind of always the odd one out. They have let me down and my family is kind of flakey, especially my mom. They never tend to do what they say they will, but I love them anyways. The year has just begun, so I don’t really know my teachers too well yet. I’m sure I will begin to trust them like I have in the past. So you could say I have trust issues only because I don’t want to get let down. I think any of them could betray me at this point but I’m almost positive my friends won’t. I’m sure my family could betray me and they probably will but it won’t be too serious. I could betray them but it would never be on purpose. I wouldn’t try to do that to anyone but I guess things just happen like that. Situations that this could happen could be school or sports or even taking sides in a fight. Friends can get mad sometimes and say that you are betraying them even if you just don’t agree with them. This trust topic could go on forever…

bayleyk2012 said...

Trust is complicated. I mean there are so many factors that go into trusting someone. For example I trust my best friend of many years way more than I trust someone that I met just the other day. But on a scale from one to ten I probably trust people at about at about a five or six.

I trust most of my friends, that’s true. But it's also true that I don't tell them everything. I have one friend who knows everything in my life. He's a third party in all the drama in my life. So I think that he can give an un-biased opinion. Other than the fact that he loves me most: D

But when it comes to my family I tell them almost everything. They're my life and I know that they wont love me any less because of my actions. Their love is unconditional.

I trust my teachers as much as one can. I trust that they'll give me the grade I deserve and teach me everything I will need to know in the future so that I don't fall behind. (Of course my sectional teachers at my after school ensemble is a totally different story.)

I've been by a set of friends and let me tell you it hurts. It's going into the lunch room and knowing that there's no one that you can sit with. So I made new friends, better friends. Would they give away some of my secrets? Maybe but I'm giving them the power to do that. But if everyone started to hate me I know which of them would be gone in a second and which of them would stick to me like glue.

Would I betray my friends? I would love to say no never. But lets not lie that’s bad. Everyone likes to be with the crowd. There are some of my friends that I wouldn’t cry over if they left. Which sounds really bad, but I’m not that close with them. But as long as I don’t have to say good-bye to one of them it’s just another person that I can turn to in a time of need. But then there are people that I would never let go. Friends who I would hold onto with my teeth to keep them.

I think that people mostly betray you when you’re going against the crowd. If you’re doing something out of the ordinary they don’t WANT to be associated with you. I think that is the main thing that causes people to betray others.

stellab2012 said...

Trust is a serious issue in many lives. Most every person I know has trust issues with the people around them: friends, family, teachers, and sometimes, even themselves. I'm someone who has trust issues with all four.
I do not trust my friends as much as people think I do. I'm not just saying that either because Smith told us that was bologna, but because of my past experiences from middle school. I've learned that trusting my friends with everything, could turn around and kick me in the butt. I’ve been betrayed so many times by so many people that I considered “friends”, that it will take someone’s trust in me and more just for me to trust them. Of course I trust the few good friends I’ve had for years, but I wouldn’t give any one of them every aspect of my life to lock up in their minds.
My parents, though? I do trust them. All of my friends used to question why I would tell them so much about my life and what was going on around me (which gave me another reason not to trust my friends as much) and I would always tell them it was because my parents have been there before too. I can go to them for anything and trust them not to get mad at me - maybe disappointed, but never very angry - and tell me what to do and talk me through it.
There have only ever been a few teachers I’ve ever really trusted. I know that teachers aren’t people that students often share their lives with, but when I was having struggles, I could always go to my sixth grade science teacher and she knew that I would just want to talk. I don’t think I could ever do that with any other teacher. I really only trust them to push me to make the best of myself.
So pretty much, my friends’ fall on about 7.5 out of ten, my parents fall at about 8.5 out of ten, and my teachers fall under about 4 out of ten. As for trusting myself, that falls at about 3 out of ten every day. I trust my body to do what it’s supposed to, but my state of mind? – Almost never.
If I could have a nickel every time I heard someone say “I would never betray anyone” I would be better off than Oprah. There’s no doubt either that I could betray someone the way anyone could betray me. It’s life, we’re human, and that’s something we’re all known to do. I’ve been betrayed and I’ve betrayed and neither of those times were the first or last. Sometime we just let words slip between our lips, sometimes we do it on purpose, and sometimes we don’t even know it, but either way, betraying can pull anyone down on a one to ten scale of trust. Some major occurrences for trust I’ve come across lately are friendships, relationships, and drugs. Trust issues, though, can be made anywhere out of any situation.
Overall, though, I’ve learned that there are days I’d much rather tell a stranger my life story and never see them again than sit on my bedroom floor with a best friend or family member and talk on and on about myself and my issues.

justinp2012 said...

I completely trust my friends, family, and teachers 10/10. Naturally, I trust my family more, but still trust others a lot. I don’t see how not trusting anyone would do more good than bad. In my opinion, it is better for me to completely trust someone and get hurt by them than not trust someone and hurt them because of that. Some people would have to prove themselves trust worthy if they had betrayed me or someone else before, but even then I would trust them 9/10.

It is human nature to betray others, but I couldn’t tell if someone would be likely to betray or not. It is not for me to say the reasons for and how people would betray me, for it is usually pressure on him/herself that would cause someone to do so. People’s theologies and philosophies are so complicated and different for everyone. I wrong people sometimes, however hard I try not to. People mess up and betray people all the time, accidental or on purpose. No one can help it and I’m not the kind of guy who would judge someone if they mess up once or twice.

I would never betray someone under any circumstance. It’s easy for me to say this, but it’s going to be hard to live fully up to it. I’m not perfect, anyone can tell me that. I just don’t want to hurt someone even if it ends up me getting in trouble. I’d rather get in trouble than me get out and someone innocent get in trouble.

Usually pressure, or an opportunity for them to get out of trouble would make someone betray people. There’s many others I’m sure, but none that I can come up with. It’s beyond us what makes someone do stuff, since it differs between everyone of us. Losing trust is easy but gaining it back is a lot harder. There is only one person I know that can be betrayed thousands of times and still trust you.

Laurao said...

Trust to me is more something that is earned rather than just given. I’m a big believer in trust. Many of my friends that I have known for several years I believe that I could trust. Others, maybe friends that I have just met, I do not always trust.
I can completely trust my family 100%, they help me through the good, the bad and the ugly. I have 18 cousins, who are all older than me, they have pretty much gone through it all, and I mean all of it. Between all 30 of my extended family members, it seems that I am not alone and can ask for advice from anyone.
I have also always trusted my teachers, I know that they do have a student-teacher confidentiality agreement, but it seems to me that they have the biggest heart and just love to teach, and that I can trust.
I unfortunately do believe that my friends could betray me, the truth is that everyone is human, no matter what. Secrets could be told, or rumors could be spread. We all have a downfall and I admit to not being perfect. I do not know exactly how anyone would betray me, I guess that is just left up to the conscious and the imagination, I really don’t have control over that one.
As I already stated I do admit to not being perfect, to me perfection is something that cannot be reached, so in a sense, yes I have betrayed people and I am 100% sure that I will in the future as well. This is the cold hard truth.
I’m definitely going to have to use my imagination on this last question. There are many things that can lead to someone betraying another. Some may be greed, while others, hatred. Again, trust is something earned, not just given and to me trust cannot have a number.

HannahG said...

I would have to say that on a scale from one to ten that I trust my family at a five and my friends at two. It is kind of hard for me to trust people because I have been betrayed many times. I would have to say that I trust my family more than anyone else. I think that since I have known them longer I am able to trust them more. I do trust my friends, but I have to keep in mind that they could betray me at any time. As far as my teachers go, I do trust them but not nearly as much as I trust my friends and family. It is very hard to have trust in people in this day and age. Someone who is you’re best friend one second could be your worst enemy the next. I like to believe that you can trust everyone. But I know that is not true. Once that trust is broken it is hard to regain that trust. I definitely think that I could be betrayed by my friends and family. In fact I have been betrayed by my friends and family. I think people in general often betray people because there is something good in it for them. They’re likely to gain something from the situation. I do think I could betray my friends and family. I try not to betray people, but I’m only human and things happen. You just have to realize that there are some people you can trust and some people you can’t.

Anonymous said...
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kaelib2012 said...

I am overall not a very trusting person. I would say that depending on the circumstances, I will trust between a 4 and a 6. When it comes to my family, I would say I trust them the most because I know them the best, and I know things about them, and so they know that I won't betray them, so they, nine times out of ten will not betray me. When it comes to my friends, I trust them a fair amount, but i have been blatantly betrayed by many friends in my lifetime. I will tell them secrets and trust them with information, but they decide that they either need to tell someone my secrets or else they are talked into telling my secrets by people who want to know them. When I told the secrets in the first place, I trusted my friends but now I have started looking into who my friends are and who I trust enough to know my secrets. I can’t be too hard on people who betray me though, because I know that I could betray someone, even if I would like to say that I wouldn’t. I know that if it were to save me from getting me in trouble or if it would benefit me in a very good way, I would probably end up selling my friends out. People betray other people in all kinds of situations. Some common times are when you stand something to gain from it, such as if you tell the truth they will do something for you, like in the witness protection program. Another time could be when you are protecting yourself, like when you will get in trouble if you don’t tell the truth which in turn sells your friend out, or when someone wants to know what you know and you don’t want to lose that friendship. Obviously, trust and betrayal is a very touchy subject, but you should get all sides of the story before you judge.

Megg2012 said...

I think trust plays a huge role in everyone's everyday life. It's a big issue, and in my family, we take our family trust very seriously. Although my brother has betrayed me a couple times I still trust him a ton- maybe a 7 or 8. I think the person I trust most ( a 9 or 10) is my sister. Trust is the foundation of our whole relationship. Without trust, our relationship would fall apart! I thought at first that the only person I could trust was myself, but then i remembered something. You always hear of people betraying themselves. To me, (I know this sounds corny) grades are a big thing. If I get a bad grade, I feel like I've betrayed myself, or if I don't preform well in dance, I feel like I have betrayed myself. I consider myself a very trusting and open person, so if someone takes the time to get to know me, I will trust them, and be open with them. I don't know about trusting teachers. I don't think I spend enough time with teachers to give them as much trust as (ex.) my family, but because I am a trusting person, I usually trust teachers at about a 6,7 or 8.(Depending on if I like them, if I know them well..etc.)
I think that everyone can pretty much say that they have been betrayed at some point in their life, and if one of you hasn't, please let me in on your secret! I think that one of the main reasons you can be betrayed, is doing something worthy of betraying. For instance, getting out of trouble, getting revenge, or back mail.
I think I have betrayed my friends a couple times. Though I don't exactly remember when or why I betrayed them, I remember that I felt horrible. Immediately I apologized, but I can tell you that their trust in me completely fell to a new level, and it was hard to build back up.
-:) Meg

kailynw2012 said...

“We're never so vulnerable than when we trust someone - but paradoxically, if we cannot trust, neither can we find love or joy”
-Anderson
Although it can definitely be argued as foolish, I am in, general and trusting person. I am shy and slightly insecure about myself, but when I become close to someone, I tend to trust them, maybe more then I should. Averaging I trust my family at a 9. One cousin in particular along with my grandma I trust completely at a 10. On the other hand, my brother, not so much, because I have learned that I can’t. My friends, in general average an 8. My teachers, as they are doing a job, and not necessarily there just to be my friend I trust at about a 5, at least before I know them. I think that it is important to trust others, so that I can trust myself. I do think that they could betray me. Of course, they are human, just as I am. Humans are (by definition according to an online dictionary) “susceptible to weakness.” Sometimes, people want to seem wise, or be liked, finding common ground, even if it is at someone else's expense can be seen as a way to do that. Yes people are capable, why well we are all human, and “susceptible to weakness,” at least as far as I know(...). Thus, yes I most definitely could too. I hope I don’t, but circumstances change, and I know I could. Sometimes secrets are told to protect someone else or the person telling the secret. Sometimes, to benefit a third party. Sometimes for revenge, and sometimes because of just a bad decision. Are any of these reasons justifiable, well thats up to the beholder. It seems to me that it would be a hard way to live, by being too distrustful. Sometimes I think it is important to have a little faith, even if it is scary. Its hurts to be sad, but without sadness how can we now joy.

Carolyn F. said...

On a scale of 1-10, I guess I would say that I trust the people around me a 7. I don't really have complete trust in anyone because I have been hurt. I always thought that I could trust my friends, until they betrayed me. I believe that they will always be there for me and that sometimes they will have a path to choose, and even if they don't choose the path in favor of me I know that they had reasons. I don't trust my family nearly as much as I trust my friends. There have been many times when I am in my kitchen and I hear my mother talking about my brother, or my father. I feel that if I tell my mother things I would only trust to a friend, she would go and tell my father, my brothers, and her friends. I trust my teachers a lot because I know that they will try to help me as much as possible. They also don't seem to be so much into as gossip as my parents or my friends.
I think that if you are human, you are going to get betrayed and you are going to betray. When someone does betray you, I believe that they either say hurtful to you or they use the trust you put in them against you. They would betray you one, because they are angry with something else and they are taking out the anger on you; or two, because they were never really your true friend and they were just using you and so they think that they had nothing to lose when betraying you.
I think that I could easily betray someone. I don’t know why people do betray others but I’m relatively sure that I could and would. I think that it is easy for us to betray because you think you have good reasons for it. You may have been betrayed before and you got over your hurt and you just want to make someone else hurt like you did.
I think a certain situation that would make people betray others is maybe as a joke. Maybe as they are betraying you they don’t realize the betrayal and they definitely realize that it wasn’t as funny as they thought. Another extreme example would be in a survival situation. If you truly are in a situation where it is either life or friends, you are going to choose life.

I think Robert made a good point in trusting his family but I have to disagree with Robert in the fact that he stated, "I definitely trust my family more than the other options." I think out of all the options I trust my family the least. In response to a lot of the students out there, I trust my family the least out of all. Then my teachers and my friends are tied for second place.
Does anybody else feel this way?

john c said...

I agree with Laura on how trust is not gained, but earned. I think that this is one of the most important aspects of trust. Without proof that we can be trustworthy, it is impossible that someone can trust another completeley. But, I dissagree with Justin P that it is "human nature to betray others." I think, as I stated earlier, that all people, no matter how evil, have the CAPABILITY (I'd underline but it doesn't work on my computer) to be good, and to remain trustworthy. It is a physical and mental decison to lie and to break promises. Like Mrs. Smith said, "When a person's in the hot seat they will sell their soul." (Thanks for the quote Ashley). Under pressure, a person DECIDES to break and become untrustworty; They are not forced to make this deciscion! So, finally, I have to say that you cannot live your life without trust. One of Humanity's needs is to have relationship with another person. Without trust, we are denying ourselves one of our most basic needs. A relationship cannot exist without trust!

kelseyc2012 said...
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kelseyc2012 said...

I think my trust for people is probably a 6 or a 7. I have a hard time entrusting people with exclusive things that are maybe hard for me to say. Nobody has ever betrayed me in an unforgivable way; it’s just that I don’t tell people everything. I’m not sure it’s worth the risk. Sometimes I even deny my trust in myself. I say things I didn’t mean to or forget important things. I can trust my family with most things but sometimes they would tell their friends as a good story or even tell each other when I didn’t want them to. I understand. I’m not perfect. I know my friends don’t tell me absolutely everything but not everything I want or even need to know. Trust doesn’t mean that you tell someone absolutely every detail of your life; it means that you believe you can.

chelseac2012 said...

I trust some people better than others. Even some of my friends, I trust more than others. On a scale from one to ten, I trust the people around somewhere between a six and nine, depending on who they are.
There are some friends that I believe would never sell out and would never give a secret away. I trust my mom and my cousins but not all my family is as trustworthy. Many of my teachers seem trustworthy but things change.
Yes. I've heard stories of people betraying others. I've seen it happen before, and I know it can happen. Depending on different people and what they're involved in, they may or may not betray someone. That also may change according to who is involved in the situation.
I never personally thought that I could betray someone… but then again, I’m sure it’s possible. There are some people I would betray before anyone else. I have many friends I trust with so much and wouldn’t betray them. For me, it all depends on who it is, what is going on, and what it would cost.
People have different reasons for betrayal. There’s different situations many people can get involved in. Maybe they did it for a friend or maybe the betrayal was for their benefit. Maybe it was even a big mistake and things got out of hand.
Betrayal is different for every person. Trust in people is different for every person. You can’t trust everyone and you can’t not trust anyone (if that makes any sense!). Sometimes, some risks need to be taken and you have to trust someone. No one can live their whole life without trusting at least one person, I think, it takes learning who is more trustworthy vs. who is not to really live a full life.

kinzerinz said...

I can trust my friends to an extent. I would never tell them anything too close or too personal for fear of them judging what I say or telling someone else. I would rate my friends anywhere from a 5- 8. Some people I can really trust and others I can’t. That all depends on how long I’ve known them and their past behavior (have they betrayed me in the past? have they kept my secrets? etc.). I trust some members of my family over others. I trust my mom and dad more than I trust my step-parents. That’s only because my parents have always been trust worthy and I’ve known them longer than I have known my step parents. I trust my teachers because if they were un-trustworthy, they wouldn’t be working at AHS. Arapahoe tends to do a good job hiring people.

I know that everyone betrays someone in their lifetime. I just hope it happens to me minimally. I don’t really think that people intentionally betray others unless they are just mean people. The most common betrayal I can think of is when two people get do something wrong and one person “tattles” on the other person to avoid the punishment. If I were put in that situation I probably could betray them. Other than that I don’t think that I’d ever betray someone. I’m not that kind of a person. It might depend on the situation.

Regardless of the situation, trust is important for everyone. It allows people to connect with one another on deeper levels. It also allows friendships and relationships to be strengthened.

Trust is vital in all aspects of life. Every person should trust at least one person in their lifetime, otherwise it’s a waste.

annas2012 said...

Trust is something that takes a while to develop and it is something earned. I trust my parents 10/10 but my brothers are a different story. My parents would never betray me because they know it would also discourage my trust in all people if I couldn’t even trust my own parents. Anything that I tell my two younger brothers slip into one ear and out their mouth. My brothers probably can’t tell the difference between something that should be kept and something the whole world should know. I would never betray my family because they deserve everything they give me and if they can be trusted, they should be able to trust me.
I have three best friends and I trust them 10/10. Anything I tell them, they keep secret. They are kind of like a safe, all secrets/information go into a place where only a set of codes can break the seal. I trust their judgment on anything that could potentially harm me, and when they have to leek a secret their system of codes/discussions are always correct. And when they tell me what they were thinking I understand. I would only betray my friends if the information they give me is vital to their safety.
I wouldn’t tell my teachers things that I tell my friends, but I would trust them with school related conflicts (8/10). I know my teachers wouldn’t want me embarrassed or hurt so they wouldn’t tell the class of things I am having trouble with. I would imagine my teachers would never betray me. The only reason they would ever betray me would be due to something that might eventually harm me. I would not betray my teachers (again, only if their life is in risk).
Situations like safety, avoiding punishment, and maybe even money can cause friends, family and even teachers to betray each other. My teck teacher was telling us that there are companies that pay people to rat out their friends if they use computer programs borrowed from somebody else. They are betraying a friend for money. Trusting at least one person can help through life, you can tell them mostly anything and it is always good to know you have a shoulder to rest on.

treyjb2012 said...

On that scale I trust the people around me about a two. I trust a grand total of about three people completely and here's why. Think about every one in history who trusted too many people. How many of those people got good out of in. Not many. King Tut for example (although it is debatable) was murdered by a man named Ary whom he trusted. The Native Americans is another example. Many knew what was coming. But they trusted us. They feed us and tough us about the land and we betrayed them. All we gave them in return was illness and war. I know that sounds really weird that I would think back to history but it makes sense. Although the possible betrayals of my peers would be much more subtle I can avoid even the most subtle of them by putting only the trust I need to into the person. I do however trust my parents because they have no reason to betray me and my best friend because he has never one, in the eight years I've known him given me one reason not to trust him. Now even in movies that is the theme a lot the hero trusts to many people and brings hardship on himself because of it. For example in the Dark Knight all the cops and Bruce trust Harvey Dent and what do that get? Some get killed. Most are not even told that their hero went phyco and slayed many of their coworkers. So in my opinion it is best to but trust in the few you van be absolutely curtain you can trust and no one else.

samis2012 said...

I wouldn’t call myself an extremely trusting person, but it’s not like I don’t trust anyone, but after I meet someone I don’t automatically trust them. With my family, my trust in them is probably an 8.5 and my friends is a 7.5. The people who I trust most would be my family, because, I mean they’re your family, they’ve been with you since birth, for the most part, and they’re supposed to be there for you and my family always has, so I trust them a lot. With my friends, my trust strengthens with time, the longer I know the person, the more I come to trust them. Unless they betray me in any way then the trust is lost and depending on how bad the betrayal is, it sometimes ends the friendship. It’s the same with teachers, as johnc2012 said, “I don’t think anyone can be completely trusted.” I think everyone it capable of betraying someone, and I know that even my own parents sometimes betray me sometimes and I betray them sometimes.
The types of situations where someone would betray another would be peer pressure. If someone told you a secret but then another group of people kept asking and asking you to tell them. Then you cave because you just want it to stop, but you’ve just spilled your friend’s secret and potentially ruined your friendship.

treyjb2012 said...

Oh wups I didn't finish. Well I'll finish now. I completely trust one friend but am very close with one or two others. You just can ever know if someone will betray you even if it is in a very small way. Could I ever betray my friends? It depends heavily on the circumstances. I am ashamed to say I would probably sell someone out if my life depended on it unless it was my brother or parents. But I cant even say that. None of us know what we would do and hopefully we will never find out. In a Nuclear Holocaust situation were there was no food left to feed the population would you be willing to kill to survive? Hopefully you will never find out.

My teacher, I don't really see why i need to trust. I mean they aren't just looking out for me. I don't have a need to trust them.

jordang2012 said...

Even though trust is something that is extremely common among the society today,I personally don't trust many people. Like said in the first comment, I will begin to trust the person more, the longer I know them. The only people that I trust are certain people in my family, and maybe a few more people outside the family. (I've never really trusted a teacher with anything in my life) Unfortunately, I've been betrayed by people many times, which is why I don't trust people for a very long time. I can honestly say that I've never betrayed anyone in my life. Even though the people have betrayed me, I don't feel angry at them, or want to kick them in the shins, ever. I'm just not a very aggressive person.

Zivenc2012 said...

On a scale of 1-10, to what extent do you trust the people around you? Briefly explain your answer by responding to the questions below:

• Do you completely trust your friends, your family, and your teachers?
• Do you think they would ever betray you if so, why and how?
• Could you ever betray them?
• What types of situations make people betray others?

I don’t think anyone can trust their friends completely and if they do they are a fool. To me people always have there own agenda and if you don’t fit into that agenda then usually your secrets are fair game. However, I do trust my family with most things but not all. Spilling every secret I have to my parents wouldn’t be the smartest or safest thing I could do. I honestly don’t see why I should trust my teacher with my personal business especially because its not there job to and I don’t have any personal friendships with my teachers. Although, I can’t be entirely sure I don’t think that any of my friends or family would betray me because I don’t see any motive behind it. If one of my friends was after something I had I would be more cautions but that’s not the case. I think I could betray them if I needed to. I guess most people would feel the same way but it’s not like there is a poll of it so I don’t know. It seems to me that it takes a stronger person to betray then remain loyal but I think that when push comes to shove in a situation almost everyone can find their own strength. There are plenty of situations in my mind but I guess a few of them would be when someone has something that someone else wants, when someone decides that the other person isn’t there friend anymore or useful, and when someone finds out that the other person allegedly went behind their back and hurt them. I think I’m a 5.

jacobs2012 said...

I can’t say I completely trust anyone. I know it may seem cold, but at one point in time everyone I know has betrayed me in one way or another. whether its something as small as telling a girl I like her after I confided in them, or as big as something like ratting on me after we did something together and if we were to get in trouble we both should.
But I mostly trust the people that I am farther away from. They know less about me hence the have less dirt on me. But it is good to have a few close people to be able to confide in. Personally I have my sister and my neighbor. They both won’t tell anything I say. But, as always there is that small chance they just might. If they were to betray me it would be because I have done something so bad that they would be legally obligated to tell otherwise they would also be involved. Needless to say, I trust them quite a bit. I could never betray them. It just could not and would not happen. I’m a pretty good secret keeper so it would be very hard to betray them. These people I love and hold so dearly to my heart it would break mine to betray them.
People betray others to get ahead. Whether it’s for money, a job, a girl, normally they’re jealous and want something they don’t have but they can get if they get this person.

brookem said...

On a scale form one to ten, I think that I trust people at about a 6. But I also think that it depends on what you trust them with. I mean, trusting people with what they are supposed to do on a class project is different from trusting a person with something more important, like trusting them not to tell other people something that you don’t want anybody else to know.
-Do I completely trust my friends, family, or teachers? I think that I trust my family more than my teachers and my teachers more than my friends (with some things). Of course I trust my family the most! I’ve known them the longest and I know that they wouldn’t really want to do anything that would hurt me. I trust my teachers more than my friends about some things because I know that they will keep my grades and everything like that a secret and most of them won’t make fun of me if I make a fool of myself. But I trust my friends a lot. I mean, really, a lot. I know that my really close friends will always be there for me, whether I have to complain about something and just need someone to talk to and will listen to me, or if I need help with something, I trust my friends to be there for me because I’ve known them for a wile and trust them with some of my deepest, darkest secrets (sort of…).
- Do I think that they would ever betray me? My family, no. My teacher, not really. My friends, some of them. The thing is that I have friends that I’m really close to and I know that they wouldn’t want to betray me because they would feel bad because most of them feel pretty guilty after they do something wrong. But some of my other “friends” I wouldn’t be surprised if the betrayed me because they have big mouths and wouldn’t really care if they hurt me.
-Could I ever betray them? It’s the same thing as if I think that they would betray me. I would betray my friends that I’m not too close with, but not my best friends. It all depends on the situation.
-Situations that make people betray other people are if someone or something is in danger. Like if one was hanging off the edge of a cliff and the only way they can be saved is if the other pulls them up but has to die instead. But that might be a little over the top. Another situation that one person would betray another person is if the one really wants something, but the other is in the way and the only way to get what they want is to betray them.

alisonr2012 said...

I don’t think you should trust anyone completely because that would be stupid. You never know if and when someone will betray you. My trust for my friends is about 1-3. I trust some of my friends at about 5-7. My trust in my family lays at about 1-2. My trust for my teachers is about 6 if they are more like a friend then a teacher. If I don’t know the teacher very well then I don’t see why I should trust them or why I would need to trust them. There are only a few people that I believe wont betray me because most of my friends have betrayed me at some point. I could betray my friends and I have at some point. Everyone betrays someone and gets betrayed at some point in their life. I have been betrayed a lot so that’s why my trust in people isn’t very high. I believe that you should trust people but if those people have betrayed you before then I wouldn’t trust them as much. I think I am about a five because I will trust you if you haven’t betrayed me. If you betray me though I will lower my trust in you and you shouldn’t trust me.

bridgetL said...

On a scale of one to ten I would say that I almost completely trust my family and friends at an eight. I strongly believe that you cannot love somebody if you do not trust them, and I love my whole family and my friends. There are certainly times, however, when I do not trust my family and friends as much. Those times vary based upon the person. At times I trust my friends less than others for reasons like them talking and not letting me in. My sisters also deny little things often to me. However, I do believe that when push comes to shove any of my friends or my sisters or parents would sacrifice themselves for me, to a certain extent. Small things like when my sister gets in trouble for something we both did, she would not “sell me out” just as I wouldn’t sell her out if I was the one getting caught. That loyalty, and the fact that I know my sisters love me, is why I trust them so much. My trust for teachers is a little less because I do not know them as well or have as personal a relationship with them. I also know that teachers have certain restrictions put on them as to what they can say to me. However, in general I trust my teachers a fair amount because I know that none of them really look to lie to me.

Betrayal is directly linked trust. If you do not trust someone in the first place, then any act against you would not be a betrayal, but rather just a simple “act against you”. I do not think that any of my family, friends, or teachers would betray me. I believe that they love or respect me enough not to do that. I think that humans in general always look to help themselves over others. Of course, certain people act against that, but the basic human nature remains the same. So, in a situation where you must sacrifice yourself in order to avoid betraying another person, humans may be inclined to betray, rather than sacrifice themselves. Trust is very important in relationships of all kinds. Whether it is a family or a friendship, trust is essential.

bradyp2012 said...

On a scale of 1-10, I trust friends anywhere from 5-8, family anywhere from 6-9, and teachers anywhere from 3-5. My friends are great but I can only trust them so far. There are certain things that you can’t trust friends with. I do think that my friends could betray me. I know that most friends when faced with covering for me will fail to do so because they are afraid they will get in trouble if the person did not believe the cover up. Most of my family I trust very much and I don’t think they would betray me. There is the exception of my brother who tries to find every excuse to get me in trouble. Teachers I trust with all school related problems. I do not trust them with personal problems because they can use them as examples in teaching. Even though they don’t say names I still would not want personal problems to be shared with the world. I can betray friends, I am human just like ever one else and sometimes I can say things I shouldn’t have and betray a friend. I can betray my brother my getting him and my parents if I choose to break their rules. I don’t really betray teachers because I don’t ever know them enough to betray them. Types of situations where people betray others are when the pressure to cover up for a person and the pressure not cover for the person become too much and they crack. Also there are situations when someone else has a better offer than the other person and so a person can betray a friend for that better offer.

alexandriab2012 said...

On a scale between one and ten, for trust I guess I am a six for trust. I have had issues before when I tell someone information, that it has a tendency of rearing its ugly head. When I tell someone something, I want it to be locked up and taken to the grave with that person, but unfortunately humans don’t work like that and have to tell everyone they know and as fast as possible. So, for me as a person (I’m not saying I haven't spread information) but I tried not to because I know how much it hurts. If I tell a secret it’s usually to my parents and my sister who is in college so, it’s not as if my family knows that person so it’s not going to make a huge difference to that person who had the secret. I would like to think that I am a easy person to talk to and I’m a fairly good listener, so it’s easier to tell me when something is askew. I also have found I’m usually the last person to hear the gossip, so even if I wanted to spread it I don’t think I’d have to because everyone else would know.
Last year I had trust issues with my friends, but even then I don't think I have any right to their secrets. I had issues with all of them, not necessary trust but with other things. So, because of that problem I didn’t tell them anything that was of importance to me or worthy for them to know. I have before had a problem with a friend and trust so, now I don’t talk to her and have nothing to do with her . With family I trust them, I mean honestly who are they going to tell my secrets too? Teacher I have never had I problem with, so I trust them.

Could I ever betray anyone? Well like my humans I’d like to immediately say no, but if I said that I would know that I would be lying, because everyone gossips. And if it came down to and my behind was on the line I’d like to say that I would take that information to the grave, however since I’ve never been in a life or death situation, I don’t honestly knowb what I would do. A lot of people tell information for money, but I would like to think that I could earn money another way than that. Plus, is any secret worth paying for and are you truly that desperate and that much of a loser to sell you friends out?

kristenm said...

On a scale of one to ten I trust the people around me about a 7. Though I may not know all of them I believe that most people are good people. I think that there are some friends that I can trust more than others, some friends I trust completely but some I rarely do. As for my family I do trust them, but mostly my parents. I think that I trust my parents the most because I don’t see a reason why they would be against their students. I do believe that some of my friends would, “betray,” me in a certain type of situation. If it were between me and them I believe that they would protect themselves instead of me. I suppose that I could betray them but it would really depend on the situation. The types of situations that make people betray others include instances of parents and trouble, when people get in trouble they feel the need to blame others and get themselves out of trouble.

jays2012 said...
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jays2012 said...

You can never really fully trust the people around you. They always look at it as if they are on the line. I trust the people around me a 6 on a scale of 1-10.
I mainly don't trust my friends. Only a real true friend will keep the things you want hidden a secret. I trust my family fully because they are always there for me. Family is the only people you can trust because you have known them your whole life and they back you up. Teachers should be able to be trusted. During school you rely on your teachers. They help you with your homework, teach you new things, and you can talk to them in a different sense than a parent.
Anyone at any time can betray you. You can't trust anyone but yourself. Why would your friends, family, or teachers betray you? There is no real explanation for that. A common betrayal seen time after time is in the Bible when Judas betrays Jesus. Judas betrays Jesus by selling Jesus to the Roman Army. They wanted Jesus dead because he said he was the Son of God and people thought he was outrageous. Judas needed money and later had to regret what he had done. This shows that you cannot trust anyone except yourself.
I can betray anyone at any moment. Although I may not mean to do it, it accidentally turns outs that way and it hurts. A situation could be that someone makes me mad and you just can’t stand what he or she did even if it’s not a big deal. You make it a big deal and then you ruin it.

Allisonm2012 said...

From a scale of one to ten I feel that I am a probably a seven when it comes to trusting others. I do trust friends a decent amount but I think I also am aware that when there is a really bad situation I shouldn't always count on them to have my back. I do trust my family when it comes to my mom, dad, and brother. Although my brother and I fight a lot, I feel that if something where to happen to me he would have my back and believe that I would do the same for him. Mostly though, I trust my family a lot more than I trust anyone else in my life, even though I fight with them way more than anyone else in life. Although many people would also like to think that they would never betray others, we all do at some point in our lives. When it really comes down to it, we are all really here for our own survival and not for the survival of others.

leahf2012 said...

Unlike other people, I am not completely trusting of my friends because I know they are only human. I am not a trusting person at all and I am not a pretty good judge of character and it takes a while for me to figure out if an individual is genuine on the inside. I cannot completely trust my friends because I am not one of those people who has had the same best friend for 10 years. My friends are great, but with huge secrets, I couldn’t trust them because “girls will be girls” even if they are my friends.
I don’t really trust my teachers a ton either. I don’t know them well enough to establish a sense of good character. Some teachers say they want you to succeed, when in actuality, they want to see you crash and burn just to put that ‘F’ on your transcript. I have had teachers who I get this sense from.
I am also very intimidated by my teachers because I feel they are judging my work from a college level perspective and it makes me feel unsuccessful no matter how hard I try.
I trust my family the most out of all of these, but mostly I trust my dog because I can tell him anything, and he won’t tell anyone because he can’t even talk.

The honest answer to the second question is obviously yes. Everyone would betray a friend, no matter how large or small the betrayal is. No one is perfect and people will make mistakes. Certain individuals all have different ideas of what betrayal is. For some it would be exposing a huge secret, for others it would be stepping on a friend to get farther in life. My idea of betrayal would be saying one thing to my face and saying the other behind my back. I will be honest, if my friend’s hair looks bad, I would tell her to spare her embarrassment. I would want her to do the same for me. If someone told me my hair looked good, and then said it looked terrible to another person, I would feel betrayed. Of course, this is a very small example of what I think betrayal is, but the idea is portrayed.

I could betray my friend and anyone could. The person who says they would never betray a friend has probably not had a chance to. We are only human and we do really anything to get ahead in life sometimes. If it means betraying a friend to do so, many people would.

The situations that make people betray others range from extreme to insignificant. Situations such as wanting glory for yourself and shedding light on others’ flaws just for personal satisfaction are considered betrayal. An example of a situation that leads to betrayal would be for instance, telling a friend the wrong homework assignment to get a better grade. You can apply these examples to any situations.

sammiet2012 said...

First of for me to tell you on a scale of 1-10 on how much I trust people around me I have to explain what the word trust means to me. For me trust is the ability to let someone see who you truly are inside, your deepest secrets, and your opinions on everything. Based on that definition of trust I would have to say that I am a 7.5 on the trust scale because I don’t fully open myself up to anyone that I meet right off the bat. Anyone and everyone I meet I have to get to know well and they have to earn my trust by being a good friend. I would have to say that the person I trust the most is my mom because she is like a best friend to me. I can tell her anything and she will just listen to me and anything I say isn’t told to the whole world.
If I were to make a guess and say if I think that my friends would ever betray me I would have to say I don’t think so. I would like to think that my friends will never betray me, but then I can’t be sure because everyone has their price. As an example in Pre K when you saw a friend steal your crayon they would say that they didn’t do it. In this example the Pre K friend sold your friendship for a crayon.
Would I ever betray one of my friends? I would have to say no unless they were doing something life threatening, in which case I would go and get help for them. Even when someone I don’t get along with tells me a deep secret I never tell anyone. For one reason I don’t feel that it is my secret to tell. Secondly I would probably forget what the secret was by the next day.
The three main reasons I would say is the selling point for most people to betray others is peer pressure, life or death situation, or guilt. Peer pressure for one because some people care a lot about what people think about them. Someone could betray you in a life or death situation because they want to live. A person my also expose your secrets if they feel guilty about keeping your secrets.

katieh2012 said...

On a scale of one to ten, I would have to say that in day to day life, my OVERALL trust is around a seven. It may seem low, but this is the average of how much I trust my friends, family, teachers, and casual acquaintances.
Before I get into any specifics, I have to say that a person must EARN trust from me. I am not (now at least) someone who easily trusts the people around me. A few years back, if you asked me this question, I would have said that I had a fairly easy time trusting almost anyone. Sadly, I have encountered many situations fairly recently that have changed my thinking.
I’ll start with friends. There are honestly only like two people who I trust over everyone else. These two people were different a year ago, but hopefully they will remain the same for a while to come. I would feel comfortable telling almost everything to these people. Unfortunately, I have to say almost. That is because a few years ago I had a friend who would rank about a 9.8 on the trust scale. Within the last few months, we’ve grown apart so much that I probably only talk to her once a month. It honestly scares me a little to know that there is someone who knows so much about me and could be telling anybody my secrets without me knowing. The fact that I could grow away from people so quickly has made me tentative about what I share and who I tell it to.
My parents would probably rank at about a 6 or 7 on my trust scale. I do tell my parents quite a bit, but there are just some things that I feel should be kept to myself. They aren’t necessarily bad things, but its just that I’m not comfortable sharing certain things with anyone, not even those closest to me. So I guess I am not that trusting toward my parents (or my brother for that matter...)
Betrayal is kind of a sensitive topic for me. I have had to deal with betrayal by others multiple times, and it’s not easy. Even though I know how bad it hurts to be betrayed, I cannot say that I’ve never done the same to someone. And in some cases it was totally accidental (like letting a secret slip) or 100% intentional. In my opinion, betrayal is a FACT OF LIFE. As much as we may not want to, we have to deal with it at one time or another. It may not be fun or have a good outcome, but sadly, its unavoidable.

SydneyR2012 said...

For me, I don’t think it is entirely possible to completely trust your family, friends or teachers. It is just human instinct to keep some things to ourselves. I think that on a 1-10 scale, I probably trust the people around me at about a five. I tend to keep a lot to myself, because I really do know what it is like to bear your soul, and have someone completely go behind your back. And while that’s being said, I know that I’m not perfect, of course; no one is! So I absolutely believe that people would betray me, just as I am capable of betraying them. I don’t think that it is the kind of thing that can be avoided altogether. People get scared, angry, or just careless sometimes and that is what leads to betrayal. Gosh, I think that that word, betrayal, sounds a little harsh. I think of betrayals more on the extreme side of things, like if someone does something REALLY bad or hurtful. But people just get themselves into high-pressure situations and that is just the result of things sometimes.

Jonathan P said...

On a scale of one to ten, I trust my friends at a level 6, I trust my family at a level 8 and I trust my teachers at a level 7. My friends are at a level 6 because even though they are loyal most of the time, they could betray you in some circumstances. For example, if your friend gets in trouble for what you actually did then he or she would probably say that you actually did it. My family is at a level 8 because they are the most loyal of all. They want you to succeed no matter what. They still, however, have the capability of betraying. For instance, if I forged my parents name on a note from school and my parents found out about what I did, went to the teacher and told her/him that they did not in fact write that signature on that note. That would be a type of betrayal to me. My teachers are at a level 7 because they have a strong loyalty to their students. They also in some circumstances will "betray" you by having a talk with you or some other form of discipline if you hurt another student. I could betray my friends if they got me in trouble for something I didn’t do. I could betray my family if it was a matter of life or death, and I could betray my teacher, though rare, to support a friend. The types of situations that make a person betray others are if they affect or make that person get in trouble along with another or in place of another. Also, if another person that you are loyal to hurts another person in any kind of way I would probably "betray" him or her to stick up for the person that is being hurt.

loganc2012 said...

Trust is a very delicate thing. Thus it has a very delicate balance. It is hard to put a generalized number to such a widespread range of people. Clearly with such a delicate balance their will be those with whom I trust everything, my deepest and darkest secrets, the “tens,” and those with whom I trust with nothing, the “ones.” People receive from me the trust that I believe they deserve. The few tens there are have proven themselves worthy and the ones possess character that I do not find trustworthy or have betrayed me in the utmost ways possible.

Even within my list of friends there is a large variety of people with whom I trust things. I have friends as low as twos or threes and friends who reach the highest level of trust that I am capable of giving. Those who are my true friends are all in the highest regions of the scale.

This is not the same with my family. I honestly do not trust them with anything personal. It is out of fear to be honest. Fear of the consequences, fear of the judgment, and fear of the ridicule. That is why I will never find myself trusting my family more than a two.

I do not trust teachers. This is purely because I believe that they will assume what is best for you and then say something they shouldn’t to someone they shouldn’t. Although I know it would be out of worry for my safety the belief makes me feel very vulnerable around teachers and thus makes me unable to trust them.

Telling anyone anything personal runs the risk of being betrayed. Whether they would or not is very hard to say. They may betray me to benefit themselves in which case they should not have been trusted originally, for my safety, or in concern for a third party. The last two are acceptable excuses but only with acceptable reasoning.

In contrast I could easily betray my friend if it meant protecting them or another person I care about. However if it is a meaningless betrayal I would feel horribly guilty however it has and will happen again however that is something I regret admitting.

lsadler2012 said...

I would say personaly that I trust probably any one that I feel is worthy of my faith. On a scale of 1-10, I would put myself at an 8.If I take the time to build a relationship with anyone for example, parents, friends, teachers, I think its only obvious that they deserve your trust. This can some times be detrimental to a person and naive but thats life. We invest our trust in people in hopes they will return it. We loose our faith and trust in people from experince and constant let downs and betrayels. We becomed hardened and often put a shell around oursleves not wanting to take a risk. I would say I trust almost anyone in authority over me, unless their not psychopathic freaks of course. Everyone is capable of betraying someone whether intentionally or accidentaly, and the majority of humans have. This is because its a natural part of humans. Its a large part of what makes us "human", our weaknesess. In my case, I do feel that I could betray a friend or fellow student. I would never do it to be malevolent or malicious, but I know that I will be faced with situations when my will to "survive" is stronger than my will to take a blow for the team. When we our thrown into dangerous dilemas and matters of life and death, our primitive instincts to survive come out and we no longer think of compassion. Like in Lord of the Flies, fear can drive a person to do almost anything, even the most sane and logical human, no matter how civilized we think we are.

brianf2012 said...

On scale of 1-10 I think I trust my friends 5-8, my family 8-10, and my teachers 7-8. I don’t completely trust most of my friends. I know what I can trust my friends with and what I can’t. I know what to tell them and what not to. It’s not a problem because I have other people who I can talk to for things that I don’t want anyone else to know about. I completely trust my family with serious things that I really care about. My teachers I trust quite a bit just because I know that if I told them something they would know not to go tell people about it. Especially considering their job is involved. I do think that some of my friends could betray me, but it wouldn’t be something that would really change how I feel about them. I don’t ever think my family would betray me. I don’t think teachers would ever betray and I would not tell them any of my most important problems unless they were involved. I could betray my friends, but not on something important because I would feel very guilty. I couldn’t betray my family. I wouldn’t betray my teachers unless they were covering something up that would prove they should not be a teacher. Some situations that would make some people betray others would be situations that put the possible betrayer in danger of something bad for their life. A lot of these situations can usually be covered up by the betrayer with a lie.

nickb2012 said...

On a scale of one to ten i trust other people at about a 11, which is too much and it always comes back to get me. I trust my friends quite a bit but i know that there are some things that i have to keep to myself. I have a friend that i can tell everything and i trust her and we tell each other everything and rely on each other for support. Then there's my family are people that i can almost always trust depending who it is in my family, if it's my mom I can go to her for anything, but my sisters or stepsisters are usually not as understanding. I also trust most of my teachers, mostly the ones that don’t sit and lecture the whole time. I can go to them 24/7 for help and they will probably help me.
Betraying people is considered wrong and bad in our society but it happens sometimes. I could betray my friends if I told them I wasn’t going to tell anyone what they trust me with. But this is very uncommon and will sometimes only happen in certain situations. These situations could include when you are pushed by: A, peer pressure, B, another friend that we think we can trust, or C, if the thing that the other person told you, because they trust you, is illegal or can hurt them a lot and by telling you can help them. There’s a line in one of my favorite movies it’s “I trust everyone; I just don’t trust the devil inside them.” And the devil is the part that betrays.

Brianc2012 said...

I think I could trust friends and people in my life to a certain extent, but I can never be a 10 in trust. I'm probably an 8 in trusting others. I don't completely trust my friends because I know that at any time they could betray you.

If they did betray me I think it would be something about them being in power over me. Or there could be money involved. I would like to completely trust my friends, but this is the real world and it's not that easy to trust.

It's sad to say but I think I could betray my friends if it had to come to that. You might think that "No you never could betray someone", but when there is money or power involved anyone can betray a friend. I wouldn't like to betray a friend ever even though it can happen.

Some solutions that make people betray others is bribes, or to get into a position of power over others. Some people can break easier when it comes to bribes. If someone betrays a family member or friend there is usually a person controlling the betrayers mind.

TaylorG2012 said...

I would have to say that on a scale of one to ten I would consider myself at 7-9 depending on who the person I am trusting is. And at sometimes I can most definitely be naïve in some cases and trust others more than they should be. I completely trust certain friend, and family, and teachers but not all of them. And I do not believe that the ones I trust completely would ever betray me but who really knows. Sometimes people are put into situations and dilemmas that might pressure them a ton. And then in that case they could totally panic, but other than that I would not think they would do it anytime, or at least I hope not. Again if I were to be put in that situation I might betray them but I would absolutely never go out of my way to betray them. That is just absolutely wrong in my opinion.

NickM2012 said...

Turst is a difficult thing for me, i am not a trusting person at all. When ever i would trust my friends, with some thing, they would think it was funny to tell everyone else. So i only trust my friends with a 7. My family is not much different, they still tell other people. So they are only an 8. I trust teachers more, because they are independent and don't have a view in what you can tell them. I think my friends will betray me, and i'm sure my family will. I think i might betray them too though, its just human nature. Peer pressure is the biggest thing that will make someone betray another, because everyone wants to fit in.

BernardoT2012 said...

This is tough.
I trust the people around me on average a six and a half.
I trust different people differently, but for teachers, family, and such it's a six and a half. I'm not too trusting
I don't trust my friends completely. They can always let something slip, or tell a secret as a funny story. I don't blame them, it happens.
I don't trust my family much. When we're in a tight spot (like when we got stuck in an airport in New York) I trust them a perfect ten. Usually though, I can't tell them anything. They always mess up anything personal, so I don't tell them if I can avoid it.
I do not trust teachers as much as I probably should. Anything a teacher tells me or shows me I double check somewhere. Teachers can mess up too, especially with all the pressure they’re under. I know I’m paranoid but better to be careful for no reason then to to be careless and get in trouble.
I think that any of my friends, family or teachers could very well stab me in the back. Some times they think doing something (like telling secrets, pulling pranks, tricking, etc.) would be funny and in good humor when it’s really serious. Sometimes they even want to get back at me and they do it in petty ways. It’s the unfortunate side of Human Nature that every person can only really understand themselves and their feelings. No one can completley understand another person or what they are thinking. Which I assume is a point the book Lord of the Flies is trying to get across
I could betray someone else if I’m not immensly careful. I try to watch what I do and see if it’ll hurt anyone, but I don’t catch it very often. I could say or do something that will insult someone else. Sometimes I do it because I think it might be fun, and I have nothing better to do. I’m not the only one like that. Humans are cruel that way. We as a species find much of our amusment in the suffering of others. Wars, violence, emotional attacks, and such amuse us in one way or another. Maybe we can develop out of this in the next 2 million years. I am not vey optimistic. If anyone wants to debate this, please do so.
I think that when we are in situations that we have to choose between our own happiness or another’s, we will choose our own 98% of the time. Since we can only feel our own emotions, we choose to follow them instead of thinking of another person. We are programmed (for lack of a better term) to look out for number one. Most people try to drown this instinct in the back of their minds, but desperate situations (survival, money, love, etc.) bring it right back out in an instant.

robertc2012 said...

Responding to Bernado:
I disagree that you think we may grow out of our human nature within the next two million years. By then, the entire planet (or a good part of it)will have been destroyed in a nuclear war or some other form of destruction.
Everyone above keeps saying that it's "human nature" that causes us to do bad things. I think that too many people blame things on that. Don't say "I'm a human, oh well, can't change my nature" and go hurt someone. If you really wanted to try hard, you could improve a bit instead of just deciding to be part of human nature.

kailynw2012 said...

I don’t think we should use what comes naturally to us as an excuse, but even if you try really hard can you force yourself to trust someone? Not everyone “lives in the moment,” but when you don’t that moment is the past, sometimes betrayal isn’t conscious. For that sometimes no matter how hard you try can you change your unconsciousness? I don’t know it just sounds a little difficult. I was a little surprised about a lot of the negativity in these, but I guess I am just really lucky. I couldn’t imagine not having someone that you can completely trust. I have at least three people in my life that know every detail of my insides. Not only are they people that I can talk to, they help me stay on the right track, and I think I would probably explode if I didn’t have a cousin I could email about the best/worst day ever, you get the idea. So, kudos to all of you who are doing it alone, I know I couldn’t, but maybe (please please don’t take this the wrong way) you should be a little bit more trusting. Like John said, you cant deny yourself the basic need of a friend, a real friend. But like I said I am a pretty trusting person; perhaps too much so.

carolineb2012 said...

Trust is a big thing. If you don’t trust anyone at all you may not be able to talk about and discuss problems. Keeping things in like this can be dire. You may explode. But on the opposite end, a person who completely trusts anyone in the world may let out too much and could be taken advantage of. Somewhere there is a happy medium.
I trust my family. I find I can talk about problems with sisters and since they have been in the same situation as me most recently they know how I feel. However, my parents can also help me through my problems and I do trust them too. On the whole I think that I trust my family the most, and on a scale of one to ten they would be a five. My parents have let me down in the past, maybe not on major things, but even on little things, it is still being let down. We don’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of things and that makes me not want to talk about things with them. I hate arguing and I would rather just avoid it by not talking about it than working it out. We’re not the type of family that is really close and discusses our problems over dinner every night. In fact, we almost never talk about our problems, but I know if something really big came up I could go to them, However, with material things, I definitely trust them. If I lent my mom a pen and asked for her to bring it back I know she would clutch in her hand while being bombed. So I trust them a lot more when it comes to material things.
I do trust my friends, but in almost the exact opposite way of my family. My bond with a lot of my friends is a strong one. We can discuss tough things and give opinions and try to help. I know they’re there if I need to talk about something. On the other hand, while my friends are good talking and things, they are a little more relaxed about material things. I guess they realize that these things are dispensable. If I lend a friend a pen, I may never see it again, and I tend to be alright with that. Like if I lend a sweatshirt it may end up being in their closet for a couple months until I realize they still have it. Overall I would say I trust my friends about a seven.
Teachers are a different story. I am not the kind of person that makes friends with teachers. I realize that they are very nice and they just want to help, but in the end I realize I am one student out of thousands they will have in their lifetime. Most likely in the end they will remember me. I won’t be a big part of their life. They get the same thing year after year. I just don’t see the benefit of putting effort into a relationship where I know I will just be forgotten after the year ends. I feel like some of them can kind of put on an act in front of the class also. I do believe that they will try to teach me well and send me on with the knowledge that I need. I have had bad experiences with teachers that try to make friends with me and learn about my life then go on to betray my trust, not directly, but they will talk about other students and that makes me wonder if they are talking about me. So overall, I definitely trust teachers the least. They are probably a four. I know that most are good natured and really want to help, but I would say that a few have ruined it for the rest. Teachers are a three.
At some point I have been betrayed by everyone I know, so I know that they would betray me. I think that under the right circumstances they all would, if they could personally gain from it a lot, that they all would do it. I think that my family would betray my trust only in the direst circumstances. I believe that my friends would betray me more quickly , but I don’t think that they would very quickly. Judging by past experience I think that my teachers would betray me, fairly easily.
I would like to think of myself as a very trustworthy person. That may not be true. I would like to think I would never betray anyone’s trust. That I know is not true. At some point in my life I know I will. If I am put in the right situation I may accidentally let something slip.
Many situations can cause someone to betray trust. I think that it all comes down to selfishness. If you care about someone more than yourself you won’t betray them. If you care for your own personal gain more than the other person’s you are more than likely to betray them. At some point in their life, everyone will betray someone, and be betrayed. It’s a part of life.

bens2012 said...

I completley trsut my family, simply because of all that they have done for me, and I know that no matter what they will be there for me. My friends are much the same, in the fact that they will always be there for me. However, I do know that some of my secrets I have entrusted in them have found there way to the public ear. My teachers, on the other hand, aren't as trusted due only to the fact that I have known them for barely even 3 weeks. I do believe that anyone could betray me, the least of which likely my family, the reality and actuality is that humans look out for themselves first. Which obviously hints that people will protect themselves befoe their friends when in serious trouble. The betrayl could be anywhere from letting a secret slip to getting me in trouble with my parents or worse. I do belive I would betray my teachers, friends, and familiy for the same exact reasn they would betray me. To save my own butt. Some of the situtions that cause betrayl are: anything with the police, belief that they will get in trouble from their parents, and letting a secret slip.