World News and Trends- Teen ethics: a challenge for parents

article by John Ross Schroeder, Scott Ashley

Almost half of American teens have stolen, and most admit to cheating and lying, according to a survey of middle—and high-school students. At the same time most also say that "good character" is important.

The survey, conducted by the Josephson Institute for Ethics, found that 47 percent of high-school teens admitted to stealing from a store within the last year. Seventy percent confessed to cheating on a school test, and 92 percent admitted they had lied to parents. The survey also found that older teens were significantly more likely to have stolen, cheated and lied than younger teens.
"There's no evidence that they're moral mutants or that they're inherently different than any other generation, but they are cheating and lying more," said Michael Josephson, president of the nonprofit Josephson Institute for Ethics. (Michael Josephson was featured in an interview in the November-December 1996 Good News .)
J. Angelo Corlett, founding editor in chief of the Journal of Ethics, warns: "It should sound an alarm that people don't take ethics seriously in our society, and that's been the case for some time." Mr. Corlett added that the survey reflects parents' ability to instill ethics in their children and noted that parents who teach strong moral values face powerful outside influences to the contrary. (Source: USA

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Thursday, March 22, 2012