The Shaky Ethics Of American High School Students
Posted by meredith on 12-02-2008In yesterday's Essentials we posted a link to an AP article on a recent survey conducted among high school students by The Josephson Institute Center for Youth Ethics. Findings suggest that some students may need to take a refresher course in ethics (Sidenote: Do any high schools even offer this class anymore? Mine didn't). As the results may lead to some interesting questions in the classroom — not to mention some uncomfortable conversations around the dinner table — we thought we'd lay out some stats for Ypulse readers to digest, discuss and possibly debate. The AP article reports that the survey was given to 29,760 students at 100 randomly selected high schools nationwide, both public and private, and all students were assured anonymity.
- 30 percent of U.S. high school students have stolen from a store (23 percent said they'd stolen from a parent or a relative)
- 64 percent have cheated on a test and 38 percent did so two or more times (up from 60 percent and 35 percent in 2006)
- 36 percent said they used the Internet to plagiarize an assignment (up from 33 percent in 2004)
- 42 percent said they sometimes lie to save money (Interesting discrepancy here between boys at 49 percent and girls at 36 percent. Are guys under more pressure to spend?)
- 93 percent said they were satisfied with their personal ethics and character
So who gets the blame for these kids not only being up to no good, but not even realizing as much? Is the ever-increasing pressure to achieve causing them to succumb to cheating? Are parents not providing a good ethical model? What is the role, if any, technology may be playing in making cheating or plagiarizing easier? Or do we just live in a society where the lines between right and wrong have become permanently blurred? Please talk amongst yourselves.
Sorta Related
Are Kids Copying Their Parents When They Lie? (New York Magazine)
Categorized under: Education
December 2nd, 2008 at 1:51 pm
This survey is a bit on the ridiculous side. It's measuring Gen Y people against an entirely different, older, standard. When downloading music 'illegally' is the norm, you can't break it down into right and wrong in quite the same way as you did 20 or 30 years ago. To these people, it's all relative. Look at the examples they have to model themselves after in the adult community.
December 2nd, 2008 at 2:51 pm
[...] Shaky Ethics of American High School Students Jump to Comments Read this article about ethics (or lack of) in american high school [...]
December 2nd, 2008 at 7:07 pm
What does the "lie to save money" statistic really measure? Is it a situation where a kid says that they have to stay home and do schoolwork when they really just can't afford to go to the movies? Though economists might disagree I find this type of behavior to be nobler than lying to gain money. I thought it was a strange question to ask and I am curious what others think about its aim.
December 5th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Nicole,
I disagree that teens today can't be held to the same ethics as previous generations. Just because some of these behaviors have become the "norm" doesn't mean that society shoudl accept them. As an analogy; just becuase the vast majority of drivers speed doesn't mean that police should stop giving out speeding tickets. I do agree though that part of the problem is the adult role models.
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