 Poll
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That's the word from a large survey of nearly 30,000 U.S. high school students from 100 randomly-selected public and private high schools nationwide conducted by the Josephson Institute, a Los Angeles-based ethics institute. Even though they confess to lying, cheating and stealing, these students still insist they are good people with sound ethics, suggesting young Americans are apathetic about ethical standards, reports The Associated Press. Perhaps the most alarming finding is the one about theft. The survey found that 35 percent of boys and 26 percent of girls (30 percent overall) said they had stolen something from a store within the past year. In addition, 20 percent said they had stolen something from a friend, while 23 percent confessed to stealing something from a parent or other relative. "What is the social cost of that--not to mention the implication for the next generation of mortgage brokers?" Michael Josephson, the institute's founder and president, told AP. "In a society drenched with cynicism, young people can look at it and say 'Why shouldn't we? Everyone else does it.'" Are today's kids less honest than those of previous generations? While some educators refuse to believe that, some point to more intense pressures today that could prompt many students to take the easy way out. "The competition is greater, the pressures on kids have increased dramatically," Mel Riddle of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, told AP. "They have opportunities their predecessors didn't have (to cheat). The temptation is greater." Other findings from the survey:
Thirty-six percent said they used the Internet to plagiarize an assignment, up from 33 percent in 2004. Forty-nine percent of boys and 36 percent of girls admitted they occasionally lie to save money. --From the Editors at Netscape | |||||||||||
Nearly one-third of high school students have committed a crime--specifically, stealing something from a store. In addition, fully 64 percent admit they have cheated on a test.
