Students steal, lie, but say they aren't so bad

Columbus Dispatch & AP ^ | December 1, 2008 | David Crary

[mlocher]

NEW YORK -- In the past year, 30 percent of U.S. high-school students have stolen from a store and 64 percent have cheated on a test, according to a new large-scale survey suggesting that Americans are apathetic about ethical standards.

Educators reacting to the findings questioned any suggestion that today's young people are less honest than past generations, but several agreed that rising pressures are prompting many students to cut corners.

"The competition is greater, the pressures on kids have increased dramatically," said Mel Riddle of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. "They have opportunities their predecessors didn't have (to cheat). The temptation is greater."

The Josephson Institute, a Los Angeles-based ethics institute, surveyed 29,760 students nationwide at 100 randomly selected high schools, both public and private. All students in the selected schools were given the survey in class; their anonymity was assured.

Michael Josephson, the institute's founder and president, said he was most dismayed by the findings about theft. The survey found that 35 percent of boys and 26 percent of girls -- 30 percent overall -- acknowledged stealing from a store within the past year. One-fifth said they had stolen something from a friend; 23 percent said they had stolen 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?" Josephson said. "In a society drenched with cynicism, young people can look at it and say, 'Why shouldn't we? Everyone else does it.' "

[mlocher]

"We have to create situations where it's easy for kids to do the right things," he said. "We need to create classrooms where learning takes on more importance than having the right answer."

This article just begs for comments. I will limit mine to the above paragraph. Schools are for preparing our kids to become adults and that includes being able to earn a decent living. They need to know right from wrong, but more importantly, they need to know the right answer. A school's curriculum should not be altered to accomodate kids that cheat. Schools should expel kids that cheat.

[JoanVarga]

"The competition is greater, the pressures on kids have increased dramatically,"

Gonna have to call Bullsh*t on that one. Besides, what do outer circumstances have to do with one's inner conviction?

-Joan

[MrB]

When there is no recognized objective moral standard,

everyone decides for themselves what is right and wrong.

And, invariably, they define “good” as the way they are living their lives.

Proverbs 21:2
Every man’s way is right in his own eyes, But the LORD weighs the hearts.

[ladyjane]

I was prepared to say you can’t believe these numbers, they’ll be low because people won’t self-report bad behavior. It’s hard to believe 30% had stolen from a store,and 23% from a family member within the past year. And those figures are probably on the low side.

[Steamburg]

Moral Relativism is how we got here. You cannot expect children to understand right and wrong when they have no moral compass. None at home, none at school, none from our nation’s leaders and apparently none from our nation’s, tax exempt, churches. If you have to ask why, you haven’t been paying attention. Adversity may well be the teacher, you nasty people who cling to your bibles and guns when times get hard.

[decimon]

Related thread: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2140494/posts

[JoanVarga]

Thinking further on it, anyone remember those "situational ethics" exercises in AP English class? Why English class felt it necessary to push ethics is beyond me, but it was a big deal in the 70's.

What is right is now relative and there are no absolutes. Bill Ayers' educational empire has done its work. And the willing c*ckbites in the Media have laid their palm fronds in the path of "new education." No wonder Obama was elected. 40 years of this pabulum have infantilized young minds.

-Joan

[mlocher]

Bill Ayers' educational empire has done its work. And the willing c*ckbites in the Media have laid their palm fronds in the path of "new education." No wonder Obama was elected. 40 years of this pabulum have infantilized young minds.

Excellent observation. When society does not force one to take responsibility for one's actions, there is a price to pay. For the next four years, we know we have to pay, and we are all nervous about the final price.

[politeia]

"Schools are for preparing our kids to become adults and that includes being able to earn a decent living."

Actually, the original purpose and justification for tax funding for universal public schools was to educate children in citizenship in preparation for their participation in a self-governing society. The employment purpose was not a major concern in a primarily agricultural economy of independent farmers.

A republican society requires citizens who can "rule and be ruled in turn" as Aristotle first described. This was the concern of the founders and of those who proposed universal tax supported public education. Trust between citizens and observance of basic ethical principles are preconditions for a free and self-governing society to function, both in the economic sphere and as participants in self-governance.

I still believe that education for citizenship, not preparation for employment, is the best justification for taxation to support public schools in a republican society. This article indicates that our public schools, as well as the larger society, are failing in their primary responsibility of preparation for citizenship and that we, as self-governing citizens, have responsibility for allowing this to happen.

[Don Corleone]

Thank you Libtards, Dr. Spock, N.E.A. and the A.B.A., not to mention the lazy parents who only have time to procreate but not to be responsible for what they have done.

[Peter Horry]

“A school’s curriculum should not be altered to accomodate kids that cheat. Schools should expel kids that cheat.”

This is the most asinine form of dishonesty, the cheaters seem to think they are getting something for nothing when actually they are getting nothing (no education) for something (the price of tuition). They go out, get a job based their record of accomplishments (their diploma) and they (and their employer) find the worth of that piece of paper (the value of a check with no funds).

[AD from SpringBay]

You should read The Underground History of American Education by John Gatto. It is eye-opening.

[mlocher]

Excellent point.

Initially out schools were based on Christian ethics, but because they were so close to Jewish ethics, Jews and Christians could easily attend the same schools. When our school systems were under attack for teaching "religion" in schools, we went back to teaching republicanism. Since a republic still required basic fundamental ethics and values, there was no problem. Today, we teach gov't instead of republicanism because the far left has attacked republican values and ethics as those of Christianity. Government includes far more than republicanism and sets the seed that government is the end all in society.