A simple role playing exercise provides a device for helping public relations students to develop their own idea of what ethical behavior is, why it is important, and how it can become a practical part of their daily lives as public relations practitioners. A few basic premises apply to the problems of ethical behavior in organizations: (1) consequences of ethical behavior can be quantified, and it is advantageous to be able to demonstrate a material benefit of ethical behavior; (2) ethical precepts must be stated in terms of organizational goals; and (3) public relations practitioners must continuously explain and justify their actions to superiors. It is the role of public relations personnel to intervene ethically, and the rewards of such intervention can be greater than the risks. Most often this intervention involves writing a memoradum to a superior. Thus a role playing exercise in which the students write a memo on an ethical problem to an instructor in the role of an obstinate and somewhat unimaginative boss provides the real world ethical education the students need. Some common problems that could be used for such an exercise include the cover-up of a hazardous condition, the exaggeration of the benefits of a program, and the questionable expenditure of funds. (JL)