Now it is of course true that running in the halls causes excessive noise and possible accidents. It is, therefore, perfectly reasonable to forbid it. Rules that compel children to walk in a line, not stop until they reach their destination, lower their voices in corridors, and keep their hands to themselves may also be perfectly reasonable. Or, that since the rule against running is legitimate, even though merely a traffic regulation, the disobedience to the rule is itself immoral. Moral trivialization, linked closely to moral indifference, may be a more serious threat to our present society than moral ignorance.
Indifference is a tough nut to crack.
One would rather avoid, and not have to remediate, moral indifference. To say something is a matter of morality is to say it obliges behavior. Lying and stealing are not matters of preference to be practiced when convenient, rewarded, or self-serving. To feel a personal obligation, particularly in a culture that stresses personal choice, requires weighty and worthy objectives that merit abiding commitments. One way we encourage children to be moral is by exposing them to great exemplars, Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, for example.