We could all learn from boy's honesty

Thinking about honesty this week it's been hard to get the Billy Joel song of the same name out of my head.

I know. But it could be worse - there's an even more syrupy Olivia Newton-John song using the adverb.

The actions of 12-year-old Matthew Marsh have probably had a lot of people talking this week round the smoko room or during the ad breaks.

On his way to the skatepark in January, Matthew found a wallet and handed it in to the police. It had $500 in it. The wallet was duly returned to the owner and the St Mary's School pupil was rewarded by the police with a day out with officers, including a dog handling unit. After publicity in the Chronicle, an anonymous donor came forward with $500 for Matthew because they were impressed with his honesty.

The story has resonance because it demonstrates values and the goodwill in people. It also had many of us thinking - would I do the same?

Not all of us would - and some of Matthew's fellow skaters at the park questioned his returning the wallet. But the teenager was pretty assertive about where he stood: "I'm not like you guys, I don't steal," he retorted.

For lots of people in Wanganui, it would be hard to return $500. It's a significant sum - practically a small fortune - and would go a long way in some households.

Honesty is easily talked or preached about but can be a hard thing to practise. We can be a bit of a finders-keepers society sometimes. And as youngsters, many of us may have been marched back into sweet shops to return ill-gotten gains or caught out in other ways. What's more, there's very little in popular culture these days that provides a moral compass, perhaps unlike past generations who had fables and other sources of influence.

But the thing about Matthew's action was there was no hesitation. He knew what was right and was not worried about telling people that, even if it might draw flack from mates down at the skatepark, or elsewhere.

In all of this, perhaps it's not the reward, or the day out with the police, that make this teenager proud. It was that he did the right thing by someone.