Object Lesson on Accountability - Red Ballpoint Pen

Use this object lesson on accountability to teach kids that why they must keep themselves and their friends honest.

Object Needed: Red Ballpoint Pen

Big Idea: Be a friend that God wants you to be.

We've included the text for this object lesson below and we even recorded a video to help give you ideas for how to teach it.  Enjoy watching!

Accountability Object Lesson Script

How many of you get a cold shiver when you see this pen? Or rather, how many of you get nervous when you see the ink from this pen on your schoolwork? The general rule is, the less ink you have on your paper, the better your grade. When you see a paper covered in red, you could be in trouble, couldn’t you?  

How many of you have had a teacher who let you grade each other’s papers? You trade papers with the person next to you, you both pull out a red pen, and you grade one another’s paper. 

Let’s say the person next to you is your best friend. If your best friend is grading your paper and you have a lot of wrong answers, would you rather your friend mark them all or help you cheat by not marking the wrong answers?

If your friend doesn’t mark all the wrong answers and the teacher doesn’t catch it, you could end up with a better grade. It’s a grade you don’t deserve, but it’s still a better grade.

But what happens if the teacher double-checks your paper? Your grade will go down, and both you and your friend could be in trouble if the teacher knows your friend did it on purpose and you knew about it!

Some people think a simple act of cheating like this is being a good friend. Some people think friendship is lying to your parents to help you sneak out or do something that they told you not to do. But the truth is that being a real friend—especially a Christian friend—means that sometimes we have to correct one another. 

As you continue to grow up, you’re going to face bigger temptations than cheating on a paper. You’re going to face temptations that could put your health, your future, and even your life at risk. What kind of friend do you want by your side when those temptations come and everyone else is doing it? Do you want the friend who’s going to go along with you, lie for you, and let you take chances? Or do you want a friend who is willing to say, “This isn’t right”?

Put another way, are you going to be the friend who just goes along with the crowd? Or are you going to have the courage to remind your friends of the way God taught you to live? 

Looking for more?  Be sure to view our entire collection of 52 Bible object lessons for kids and children's sermons.