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By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer David Crary, Ap National Writer Sun Nov 30,
4:27 pm ET
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 too apathetic about ethical
standards.
Educators reacting to the findings questioned any suggestion that today's young
people are less honest than previous generations, but several agreed that
intensified 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 at 100 randomly selected high schools nationwide, 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 stole something from a friend;
23 percent said they stole 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?" Josephson remarked in an interview. "In a
society drenched with cynicism, young people can look at it and say 'Why
shouldn't we? Everyone else does it.'"
Other findings from the survey:
_Cheating in school is rampant and getting worse. Sixty-four percent of
students cheated on a test in the past year and 38 percent did so two or more
times, up from 60 percent and 35 percent in a 2006 survey.
_Thirty-six percent said they used the Internet to plagiarize an assignment, up
from 33 percent in 2004.
_Forty-two percent said they sometimes lie to save money 49 percent of the
boys and 36 percent of the girls.
Despite such responses, 93 percent of the students said they were satisfied
with their personal ethics and character, and 77 percent affirmed that "when it
comes to doing what is right, I am better than most people I know."
Nijmie Dzurinko, executive director of the Philadelphia Student Union, said the
findings were not at all reflective of the inner-city students she works with
as an advocate for better curriculum and school funding.
"A lot of people like to blame society's problems on young people, without
recognizing that young people aren't making the decisions about what's
happening in society," said Dzurinko, 32. "They're very easy to scapegoat."
Peter Anderson, principal of Andover High School in Andover, Mass., said he and
his colleagues had detected very little cheating on tests or Internet-based
plagiarism. He has, however, noticed an uptick in students sharing homework in
unauthorized ways.
"This generation is leading incredibly busy lives involved in athletics,
clubs, so many with part-time jobs, and for seniors an incredibly demanding
and anxiety-producing college search," he offered as an explanation.
Riddle, who for four decades was a high school teacher and principal in
northern Virginia, agreed that more pressure could lead to more cheating, yet
spoke in defense of today's students.
"I would take these students over other generations," he said. "I found them to
be more responsive, more rewarding to work with, more appreciative of support
that adults give them.
"We have to create situations where it's easy for kids to do the right things,"
he added. "We need to create classrooms where learning takes on more importance
than having the right answer."
On Long Island, an alliance of school superintendents and college presidents
recently embarked on a campaign to draw attention to academic integrity
problems and to crack down on plagiarism and cheating.
Roberta Gerold, superintendent of the Middle Country School District and a
leader of the campaign, said parents and school officials need to be more
diligent for example, emphasizing to students the distinctions between
original and borrowed work.
"You can reinforce the character trait of integrity," she said. "We overload
kids these days, and they look for ways to survive. ... It's a flaw in our
system that whatever we are doing as educators allows this to continue."
Josephson contended that most Americans are too blase about ethical
shortcomings among young people and in society at large.
"Adults are not taking this very seriously," he said. "The schools are not
doing even the most moderate thing. ... They don't want to know. There's a
pervasive apathy."
Josephson also addressed the argument that today's youth are no less honest
than their predecessors.
"In the end, the question is not whether things are worse, but whether they are
bad enough to mobilize concern and concerted action," he said.
"What we need to learn from these survey results is that our moral
infrastructure is unsound and in serious need of repair. This is not a time to
lament and whine but to take thoughtful, positive actions."