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High Ethical Standards vs. Reality October 15, 2006 has passed, so permission has been granted to discuss the ethics report card for American youth, released by the Josephson Institute. The Institute had surveyed 36,000 high school students nationwide to measure their levels of ethics. You may or may not be surprised by the results.
Although we will refer to some of the percentages in this article, suffice it to say that there is a clear difference between what our youth believe ethically and what they actually practice. By the way, their practice is modeled after what they have learned from the adult world around them. We can draw this conclusion by looking at a few of the statistics.
First the good stuff. 98% of the teenagers surveyed believe that honesty and trust are essential in personal relationships. 97% say that it is important for people to trust them.
Now, the bad stuff. 59% of the same youths agree that in the real world, successful people do what they have to do to win, even if others consider it cheating. Also, 82% of these young people admit that they lied to a parent within the past 12 months about something significant, 62% admit that they lied to a teacher within the past 12 months about something significant, and 60% cheated during a test at school within the past 12 months.
Rather incredible. Are we sure that all of these responses to the survey came from the same kids? Yes, we are sure. What does this mean? It proves that "necessity is the mother of invention" and that, just as our teens have observed from their surrounding culture, if need be, lying and cheating will be resorted to by prominent adults in that culture. How sad.
Is this survey describing our children? Is the survey describing your children? We certainly hope not. Even if not, how can we protect our children from falling prey to the same imbalance?
Here are a couple of ways to combat this unfortunate disease. The first and most effective way is modeling. That means modeling by word and by action. Ethics and honesty must be talked about and practiced regularly. Telling our children “Do as I say, not as I do” is most destructive. Excusing one’s own behavior this way adds more casualties to the percentages listed above.
The next way to combat dishonesty and cheating is by talking about it. We expect the usual nods in agreement when we suggest relating incidents and experiences which illustrate how someone rose above the temptation of cheating or exercised exemplary honesty and integrity. Indeed, this sort of discussion with our children is very valuable. But, we would add the value of talking about the negative incidents that we encounter in our society as well. Our children need to navigate through life with their eyes open. They need to know what cheating and dishonesty looks like. They need to know that it is real and that is ugly. They need to know what negative consequences will eventually result from dishonest behavior.
Obviously this suggestion must be followed with extreme care. There are plenty of public scandals which can be analyzed without wandering into forbidden types of conversation. It is the responsibility of the educating adult to ensure that these discussions are conducted ethically.
Our children need to navigate through life with their eyes open.
The main point is that today’s society is riddled with all kinds of unethical hazards which hide behind a veil of artificial legitimacy. How dare someone say that it is okay to lie or cheat in order to get ahead in the world. We need to expose these warped beliefs and incidents and help our children keep their vision focused on what is right at all times.
Can you imagine? The Josephson study polled 36,000 teenagers! Such an incredible number makes the task of righting this wrong seem almost futile. That is the last thing we should ever believe. Yes, the odds are against us, but that should not discourage us. It is not good enough to pooh-pooh society and just point out its ills. We must educate our children to be ethical and responsible leaders of today and tomorrow. Don’t dwell so much on the numbers and the percentages. Help improve the world one child at a time and one family at a time. Teach our children to do the same. Every action we take, every discussion we lead, and every statement we make teaches. We need to guard our every word and action. And we need to teach our children to do the same. This is simply “helping children to help themselves”.
© 2006 Educational Support Services, Inc. Monsey, NY
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