Thank you for your reply.

Morals, values, and character ARE what you do when no one is looking, regardless of what you are going through. They are the basis one relys upon for proper behavior. There will always be an excuse for one who fails to hold to a general acceptable level of morality. It's when everyone's excuse is allowable that the level of morality and our value system deteriorates, imo.

A student who fails to study, needs to realize that there are consequences for that, regardless of the reason, though the reason may be quite "acceptable" it never warrants bad behavior. That's what morality is all about.

What repercussions occur because of bad behavior, which in your case of being a teacher is in your hands, is all important. At that point you can weigh the excuses, but still must enforce the consequences or the students will be taught that with a good enough excuse, an action is okay. When a majority of the society have learned that, then the mores of society also begin to deteriorate.