Kids Today: Cheaters, Stealers and Liers - Oh, My!

[J_UNTITLED]

From Yahoo! News (The Associated Press)

"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."

[Marquoz]

Hmmm, sounds about what my teenage life was 15 years ago. It was just harder to cheat on the internet back then. Of course it was easier to get into bars then, so I prefered that trade off!

Theft was more from stores when I was a teenager, couldn't afford that shirt? Stick it on under a sweater and walk out the door. It was rare you stole from friends and family.

*shrug* I think though that there's a lot lost with personal responsibility on the parents fault.

[Aaron]

I got paddled (and suspended) last year for stealing the teachers edition algebra 2 book and using it to cheat for an entire semester.

Few things are more embarrassing than being 16 (at the time) and getting paddled at school...

[quexos]

Originally Posted by Aaron

I got paddled (and suspended) last year for stealing the teachers edition algebra 2 book and using it to cheat for an entire semester.

Few things are more embarrassing than being 16 (at the time) and getting paddled at school...

Last year ... Being 16 ...

You're only 17 and you are a moderator on the site ?
Way to go

Edit: wait a second, you actually got paddled ? Gee what kind of school do you go to ?

[redboxcar]

My high school days were riddled with cheating. Never plagiarized, though. And never stole or ditched class.

One of my friends was a TA for my Honors English teacher-- he wasn't in Honors English, so the teacher had him make copies of tests and what not, and he always made me us an extra copy to take before the exam.

Passing notes, that was the way to go... also, writing on desks... keeping papers on the table, hidden under the one you were writing on.

Memories, memories... jeez, no morals!

I don't know anyone who didn't cheat once during high school.

[silversnake]

Originally Posted by lindar

I don't know anyone who didn't cheat once during high school.

me either. Everyone did it at one point. I did it once to prove a point. I knew my english teacher had it in for me so I wanted to confirm it. I needed to hand in an assignment, I ended it handing it in late because I had been sick that week. When i returned , I basically took my friend's copy and replaced it with my name and handed that in. He got an A , I got a C+. I ended up going to the principal to show my point, he ended up talking to the teacher and I had to re-do the paper. She was still rude to me.

I never stole anything though. Once when I was really young I wanted a mickey mouse pen , took one not knowing my mom had already grabbed one. Once I realized I actually went back myself and gave it back saying what I had done. They ended up giving it to me anyways

I still lie to save my ass though

[redboxcar]

Originally Posted by silversnake

I still lie to save my ass though

No shame in your game.
ME TOO.

[Marquoz]

Originally Posted by silversnake

I still lie to save my ass though

I never lie!

[J_UNTITLED]

More proof to possibly confirm that morals or "innate goodness" are taught, not born within us, perhaps?

[Blu-Benny]

Originally Posted by lindar

I don't know anyone who didn't cheat once during high school.

that's the only reason i passed chemistry in high school. i had my best friend sitting behind me who was in the same boat as me in that class.

we had the smartest girl in our class sitting to my right, the 3rd smartest sitting in front, and then another smart girl sitting to my left. and all of them were cool enough to not cover their papers during tests. it was great.

[ground chuck]

is this really a surprise to anyone? a majority of baltimore inner city high schoolers can even pass their last test to graduate. i forget exactly what its called, but it is one final test to re-evalute everything they've learned.

[Terjyn]

Call me dense, but what does:

_Forty-two percent said they sometimes lie to save money — 49 percent of the boys and 36 percent of the girls.

even mean?

[redboxcar]

Originally Posted by Terjyn

Call me dense, but what does:



even mean?

Hmm... well, I used to lie and say I was under 12 (when I was in 14-15) to get into the movies and Hometown Buffet for cheaper.

[Crim122]

And they think Lil Wayne is the best rapper alive, Paris hilton is a worthy celeb, hate black and white / subtitled movies...I could go on.

[DetroitSportsFan]

I never shoplifted or stole from my parents.

I did cheat on tests/assignments when necessary, but I didn't have the luxury of the internet when I was in high school in the early 1990s.

[toef]

This comes as no surprise, but I think that all of this will eventually catch up with them. If they cheated once or twice, maybe it's not a huge deal. But the people who were cheating to get by will obviously reach a point where they can't cheat anymore.

If they're cheating to get into a good college, they can count on the good college taking their honor code pretty seriously. Last year in grad school, a girl in my program was kicked out after cheating on a take-home test. She wouldn't give the name of the person that helped her, otherwise that person would have been kicked out as well.

The cynical part of me is concerned about what this means when this upcoming group of high-schoolers start entering the real world, and how they deal with/run things.

[mikejet]

Reminds me of the South Park where they made fun of Stand and Deliver.

[jadedeath]

Colbert covered something similar to this in his show last night.

They're currently going through details on a possible way to go for kids learning, starting from grade 9 they're going to start giving kids $50 for every A that they get per class for every 5 weeks {or so}

That's the wrong way to go.

Logan

[EricJ]

And bad spellars, too.

[fighthefutureofhd]

hahahaha. i just noticed that.