Our Centers for Ethics:

The Ethics of American Youth: 2000

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Josephson Institute Report Card

After reviewing data from the 2000 Report Card on the Ethics of American Youth, a biennial national survey on the ethics of young people conducted by Josephson Institute, founder and president Michael Josephson called on politicians to recognize the vital importance and consequences of “shocking levels of moral illiteracy” among the nation’s young people.

"The seeds of violence can be found in schools all over America,” Mr. Josephson said. “Today's teens, especially boys, have a high propensity to use violence when they’re angry; they have easy access to guns, drugs, and alcohol; and a disturbing number take weapons to school."

Ron Kinnamon, chairman of the CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition, said of the findings: “There is a solution -- more pervasive and proficient character education at home, at schools, and on the sports fields.”

The survey of high school and middle school students was released in conjunction with National CHARACTER COUNTS Week, October 15-21.

Among the highlights:

• Lying is pervasive. Ninety-two percent of the high schoolers lied to their parents in the past 12 months, 78 percent lied to a teacher, and more than one in four say they would lie to get a job.
• Cheating is common. Seventy-one percent of the high school students admit they cheated on an exam at least once in the past 12 months (45% say they did so two or more times).
• Stealing is committed by nearly half of boys and a third of girls. Forty percent of the high school males and 30 percent of the high school females say they stole something from a store in the past 12 months.
• Being drunk in school is a concern. Nearly one in six of the high schoolers and one in ten middle schoolers say they’ve been drunk in school during the past year.
• Getting drugs is easy. Sixty-six percent of the high schoolers and nearly a quarter of the middle schoolers say they could get drugs if they wanted to.
• Getting guns is easy. Nearly half of the high school students and a quarter of the middle schoolers say they could get a gun if they wanted to. More than ten percent of all students say they actually took a weapon to school in the past year.
• Hitting is rampant. Seventy percent of the middle school students and 68 percent of the high school students say they hit someone in the past year.
• Feeling safe is rare. More than one in three students in all age groups say they don’t feel safe at school.

"Kids are as much the victims as the perpetrators of the societal trends and pressures demonstrated in the survey,” Mr. Josephson said. “Metal detectors and gun regulation can't solve this problem alone. We have to work on the character of youngsters, changing their attitudes about violence and fortifying their ability to deal with anger and feelings of alienation."

The report was based on written surveys administered by randomly selected schools throughout the country in 2000. The margin of error is +/- 3 percent. It includes responses from 15,877 middle and high school students.