Ethics and Youth

This report offers some data that your role in teaching about copyright and plagiarism is more important than ever. The Ethics of American Youth 2008 Survey has some bad news:

CHEATING. Cheating in school continues to be rampant and it’s getting worse. A substantial majority (64 percent) cheated on a test during the past year (38 percent did so two or more times), up from 60 percent and 35 percent, respectively, in 2006. There were no gender differences on the issue of cheating on exams.

• Students attending non-religious independent schools reported the lowest cheating rate (47 percent) while 63 percent of students from religious schools cheated.
• Responses about cheating show some geographic disparity: Seventy percent of the students residing in the southeastern U.S. admitted to cheating, compared to 64 percent in the west, 63 percent in the northeast, and 59 percent in the midwest.
• More than one in three (36 percent) said they used the Internet to plagiarize an assignment. In 2006 the figure was 33 percent.

The study and report are from the Josephson Institute , a non-profit that "develops and delivers services and materials to increase ethical commitment, competence, and practice in all segments of society." The report is based on surveys of 30,000 high school students across the country from public and independent schools (including religious and non-religious independents). In addition to the questions about cheating, students were asked about their behavior related to lying and stealing. Detailed results by question, gender, etc. are on the survey report page.

There is a link on the Josephson Institute's front page to an Adult Integrity survey if you want to see how you compare to others as a good role model.