Why Should we Follow the Covid-19 Restriction Rules?

Ronan ó Moráin 

5th Class
Scoil Lorcain Monkstown

There is a virus at the moment and many rules have been put in place such as social distancing and no movement beyond 2 or 5 km. These restrictions stop us from meeting our friends and going outside our zones. They put limits on our freedom. Why do we follow these rules? Why do we follow rules in general? 

Rules create order out of chaos. Imagine you know the answer to a question in class would you shout it out or would you put up your hand? You would probably put up your hand, right? because there is probably a rule for that in your school. If everyone shouted out the answer it would be chaos Another example is on our roads, if there were no rules for traffic everything would be chaos, everyone would just zoom along and cars would crash. 

Humans follow rules as they are afraid of punishment. Hundreds of years ago punishments for not following rules were far worse and in some countries still are. Back then a punishment could easily be death. People were scared of that but still people are very scared of punishment. We need friends and people to talk to and you can't socialize in a jail cell. Is fear of punishment the reason people follow rules? that is definitely one reason. 

We need rules because we are social animals, if you could do what you want like burp in someone’s face that person wouldn't like you. Everyone needs friends. After awhile basic manners started to change into table rules and if you don't follow the rules you won't have friends. 

Another reason humans follow rules is because they are scared they will look bad in front of others or feel shame in front of others if they are caught not following rules. People care about what other people think of them. For example, you are out walking your dog and your dog does a poop, you look around and nobody else is there perhaps you don't pick it up because nobody else knows. The next day the same thing happens but someone is there looking so you pick it up. Probably because you don't want to look bad in front of somebody else. Other people's opinions of you change the way you behave. 

What would happen if there were no rules nobody would pay their taxes, after a few months nobody would go to work because they weren't getting paid. The government would collapse, people would starve and only people growing food would stay well. Soon people would start stealing and killing for food. All the nuclear power plants would explode as no one would bother working there for no money. The old and weak would be left to die. The strong would join gangs and many battles would occur. All this could lead to the end of the earth. This is obviously worst case scenario but it does show that we need rules. 

The real reason I think we are following the Covid-19 rules is because we have morals. We feel it is our responsibility to look out for others. If we broke the rules we could be worsening the crisis for us and others and we want to care for other people. Even though it limits our freedom. Philosopher Skye Cleary was quoted in the Irish times '. ..we are all a fact of each others reality we share a responsibility for one another, refusing to act to prevent the spread of the virus makes us responsible for worsening the situation not just for other people but for ourselves because been interconnected means that our well being is linked too.' 

The reason we follow the Covid-19 rules is not because the fear or the shame of being caught not following the rules, or the chaos that could come from not following the rules. The real reason is because we care for others. We take it upon ourselves to protect others because we are all in this together.