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Subscribe to RSSCheating, lying and stealing among American students are all less prevalent nowadays, according to a new report.
The 2012 "Report Card on the Ethics of American Youth" suggests that young people's morals have improved in recent years. The survey, conducted every two years by the Los Angeles-based Josephson Institute of Ethics, found that 99 percent of the 23,000 high school students sampled say they believe "it is very important to have good moral character."
The results found 51 percent of students in 2012 admitted they cheated on an exam in the past year, which is down from 59 percent in 2010. The percentage of students admitting they've copied another's homework dropped by two points in the past couple years.
"Changes in children’s behavior of this magnitude suggest a major shift in parenting and school involvement in issues of honesty and character," Michael Josephson, founder and president of the Josephson Institute of Ethics, said in a statement. "Though there is still far too much cheating, lying and stealing, I think we have turned the corner."
Related: Feds say teachers hired stand-in to take their certification tests
The survey also suggest there are fewer Pinocchios: Fifty-five percent of students in 2012 say they've lied to a teacher in the past year about something significant, compared with 61 percent in 2010.
Students admitting they stole something from a store in the past year fell seven percentage points in the last two years, to 20 percent in 2012.
Through hidden cameras, a few parents find out if their kids are among the 85 percent of high school students who admit to getting a little extra help. TODAY's Natalie Morales reports.
While Josephson believes the results are "a small ray of sunshine shining through lots of dark clouds," this report comes in the midst of a number of recent cheating scandals among students a little bit older.
At least 78 Air Force Academy cadets have been accused of cheating on an online calculus test by allegedly getting help during the exam from a website.
Even the Ivy League has not been immune to moral lapses. It was recently reported that dozens of students at Harvard University were being investigated for possibly sharing answers or plagiarizing on a final exam.
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A lot of young people cheat because they're under pressure to get ahead and succeed, according to David Callahan, senior fellow at New York City-based public policy center Demos.
"Students are worried about getting left behind in this economy," said Callahan, who's also author of "The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Do Well."
In fact, 45 percent of the boys and 28 percent of the girls in the Josephson survey believe that "a person has to lie and cheat at least occasionally in order to succeed."
"It’s still a big problem," Callahan told NBC News. "There’s been a decline, but it’s not a huge decline."
Top New York City public school Stuyvesant High is investigating accusations that up to 70 students may have used cellphones to cheat on a major exam. NBC's chief education correspondent Rehema Ellis reports.
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So the question is, how many students were honest on the survey? Can we believe the results? When the comment was made,"We think we have turned the corner, what corner is that?" One must always consider when asking people on honesty tests, that there are going to be people who aren't going to be telling the truth.So a percentage of the results are not going to be valid. Did those doing the testing factor in such a percentage?
Whatever methods were used we can be sure of one thing, we have a long way to go to create a society where crime is lower, personal responsibility it higher, honesty and personal integrity is seen as highly important character traits and cheating is seriously frowned upon by youth themselves.
yes, I'm sure the statisticians didn't think of your obvious questions and points for skepticism.
Yep, the students must have read the article about some teachers getting caught when they had someone else take their qualification test for them.
Crime DOES NOT PAY.
Wait a minute....."appoinited" Cabinet members (Secretary of the Treasury for one), "elite" elected Congressional/State/Local representatives, Wall Street financial institutions, corrupt Judges, corrupt law enforcement officials......yep, those "teflon" folks !!!!
"Believing" in good moral character is very different from actually "having" good moral character.
But I thought marriage equality and legalization of marijuana was demonizing society?
And banks and corporations and people out to make a profit are demonizing society too, right?
Or, maybe, political opinions don't matter much in the topic under discussion. But you can seem to handle that...
Survey says: Only a moron would believe results from cheaters taking a survey on cheating. It's like asking Wall Street banksters or criminals in Congress to audit themselves.
I think they're lying.
People wont stop lying until you beat all the Tarnation out of them.
ALL the tarnation (it is not a proper noun)?
I thought just some of it was responsible for the lying, not all of it.....
Another amazing ironic survey. Facepalm.
Cheating and lying generally pays off. It's a fact of life.
That is a lesson I tried to deny for a long time because I never wanted to believe it.
Cheating and lying are skills that only pay off when one practices regularly.
Not true JEM. Occassional cheaters have success too. In fact I'd argue that regular cheats are more likely to be known as cheats. The occassional cheater is harder to catch and less likely to be suspected of anything.
I would assume it's because this generation isn't entering into monogamous relationships as much. Instead, they're "hooking up," meaning having several partners at once isn't considered cheating to them.
Someone only read the headline.
LOL You hit that nail on the head ARGUES...
I would be interested in seeing this type of study with economic status included. Personally I think the majority of the lying and cheating is done by the wealthier set. They were raised by people who put money above morals, can pretty much buy their way out of legal problems and have a sense of entitlement that the rules do not apply to them.
I disagree. I've seen it at all levels.
Why would they need to cheat? In today's liberal (read progressive) schools, if you get an "F" they mark down another student's "A" to a "C" and mark the "F" student up to a "C". It's called wealth distribution. Nobody fails. Everybody comes out ahead, except those who went before them who have to work even harder to carry these "no-loads".
The primary motivation for cheating is to improve one's position in getting into college.
Now that college no longer offers anything other than crushing debt on top of lifelong poverty,
cheating is no longer worth the effort.
This isn't about morals improving. This is about hope being lost.
Get off your soapbox. There are about a gazillion studies that show greater earning power for people who have degrees. Getting a degree is a large part of monetary success. Specific degrees, like Political Science or Theatre, aren't worth a dog turd. but in general a 4-year degree means more money and upward mobility...
Survey says;
"Young people cheating a bit less these days, report finds"
Probably should say;
"Young people lie about cheating a bit less these days, report finds"
Please.......