(December 1, 2008)--The results of a survey of 29,000 U.S. high schools students released Monday reveal stealing, lying and cheating rates that the authors say are harbingers of “entrenched habits of dishonesty in the workforce of the future”.
The Josephson Institute’s 2008 Report Card on the Ethics of American Youth is a report on the attitudes and conduct of 29,760 high school students.
Read The Institute’s Press Release
The survey found that 35 percent of the boys interviewed and 26 percent of the girls admitted stealing from a store within the past year.
Twenty-three percent admitted stealing something from a parent or other relative in the past year and 20 percent said they stole something from a friend.
Forty-nine percent of the boys surveyed and 36 percent of the girls said they sometimes lie to save money.
Sixty-four percent of the students surveyed said they cheated on a test during the past year and 38 percent said they cheated two times or more.
Thirty-six percent said they used material plagiarized from the Internet in an assignment.
When it comes to cheating, the report found no gender differences.
“As bad as these numbers are, it appears they understate the level of dishonesty exhibited by America's youth,” the institute said.
“More than one in four confessed they lied on at least one or two questions on the survey. Experts agree that dishonesty on surveys usually is an attempt to conceal misconduct,” the institute said.
Despite the admissions of lying, cheating and stealing, however, 93 percent of the students said they were satisfied with their ethics and character and 77 percent said, “When it comes to doing what is right, I am better than most people I know.”
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