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<DIV><FONT size=2>What the young have learned from the Bush Administration,
other politicians, and public figures:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
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<TD align=left><A href="http://www.spokesmanreview.com/"><IMG height=20
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<TD align=right><FONT face="tahoma, sans-serif" size=2>Monday,
December 1, 2008</FONT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><BR><!--include virtual="/inc/story_guts_print.asp"-->
<H2>Survey finds students cheat, steal, but say they're still ethical </H2>
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<H5><FONT color=#ff0000>What they said</FONT> </H5>
<P><FONT color=#ff0000>Sixty-four percent of students said they
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.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT color=#ff0000>Thirty-six percent said they used the
Internet to plagiarize an assignment, up from 33 percent in
2004.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT color=#ff0000>Forty-two percent said they sometimes lie to
save money.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT color=#ff0000>Despite such responses, 93 percent 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."</FONT></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></P>
<P class=byline><SPAN class=name><A
href="http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news/bylines.asp?bylinename=David%20Crary">David
Crary </A></SPAN><BR>Associated Press<BR>December 1, 2008</P><!---------Code for Big Ads-------------------><!---------End Code for Big Ads------------------->
<P>NEW YORK 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.</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>"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."</P>
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<TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The Josephson Institute, a Los Angeles-based
ethics institute, surveyed 29,760 students at 100 randomly selected high schools
nationwide, both public and private.</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>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."</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>"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. "They're very easy to scapegoat."</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>"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.</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>"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.</P>
<P>"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."</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>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.</P>
<P>"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."</P>
<P>Josephson contended that most Americans are too blasι about ethical
shortcomings.</P>
<P>"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."</P></DIV></BODY></HTML>