By Jim Brown and Jody Brown
October 25, 2002

(AgapePress) - A leading spokesman for Christian teachers in public schools says a new ethics survey of 12,000 high-school students shows that important standards are not being set in the home.

A study released this week by the California-based Josephson Institute of Ethics finds that cheating, stealing, and lying among high-school students have continued their decade-long rise. In comparison to a similar survey conducted in 1992, the Institute found that the percentage of students who cheated on an exam at least once in the past year jumped from 61% to 74%.

During the same time period (1992 to 2002), the number of students who stole something from a store within the previous 12 months rose from 31% to 38%, and the percentage who say they lied to their teachers and parents also "increased substantially," the Institute reports.

Michael Josephson, president of the Josephson Institute of Ethics, says evidence from the survey indicates a willingness to cheat has become the norm, and that the typical authority figures in students' lives -- parents, teachers, coaches, even religious educators -- have been unable to stem the tide. "The scary thing," he says, "is that so many kids are entering the workforce to become corporate executives, politicians, airplane mechanics, and nuclear inspectors with the dispositions and skills of cheaters and thieves."

Forrest Turpen is executive director of the Christian Educators Association International. He says a school always reflects the culture itself.

"Unfortunately, I would say that there aren't too many high-school students that even know and understand who God is and His absolutes in the realm of ethics and standards," Turpen says. "That's the unfortunate issue: they're not getting that message."

Turpen says as evidenced by the previous White House administration, from the presidency on down, society often rewards those who lie, cheat, and steal.

The educator adds he is not all surprised that, according to the survey, students who attend private religious schools do not behave or think much differently from others. The survey found that while those students did steal less than their public school counterparts, they cheated and lied more to teachers and parents.

Those findings, Turpen says, point to a definite weakness in family structure -- and a failure by parents to follow the fourth, sixth, and eleventh chapters of the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy.

"Was there a problem with [the survey]?" he asks. "Not necessarily, because when you look at the divorce rates today in the Christian community, they're as high or higher [than the secular community]. So we see a breakdown [in family structure] for some reason. Are we 'nominally' Christian, as opposed to being strong in our ethics?"

Among the survey's other findings: Girls tend to have more positive attitudes toward ethics -- but while they are less likely to engage in theft or other dishonest practices (35% vs. 41%), they still cheat and lie as much as boys. And participation in varsity sports appears to have little effect on a student's character. The Institute found it was not a differentiating factor, with one exception: varsity athletes were more likely to cheat on exams (78% vs 73%).

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