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Just as I was wondering what I would write this
article about, I read a column in the newspaper that
somewhat alarmed me. It was a study about the
attitudes of young Americans towards cheating,
dishonesty and violence.
The subject of the column was the latest
Junior Achievement/Deloitte
Teen Ethics Survey of American
teens ages 13-18. The first result of the survey
actually seemed to be good news. 71 percent of the
teens surveyed said they felt fully prepared to make
ethical decisions when they enter the workforce. But
then came the alarming statistics:
-38 percent
of that group believes it is sometimes necessary to
cheat, plagiarize, lie or even behave violently in
order to succeed.
-24 percent
of ALL American teens surveyed think cheating on a
test is acceptable on some level.
-Of the teens who think plagiarism is acceptable,
37 percent think a personal desire to succeed is
justification.
-But perhaps the MOST frightening finding is that
23 percent of ALL teens surveyed
think violence toward another person is acceptable on
some level!
So- is there a battle for the souls of our
teenagers? Perhaps there is. And even though I do not
personally believe this survey is indicative of the
character of most young Americans, I do think that we
need to be concerned about the attitudes of- and the
influences on- our youth.
I can remember writing an article for this
publication some years ago wondering what would be the
effect on a generation of young Americans who grew up
playing violent video games like Grand Theft Auto.
If you remember that game or are familiar with it, it
basically was a training manual for kids to steal
cars, use violence and even kill others, including
police officers. That’s how they ‘won’ the game.
Would it be a shock to learn that some of these
young people have incorporated those negative values
into their own attitudes towards life and success?
But the real question is- what can we as
adults do about it?
More now more than ever everyone involved in
politics needs to conduct our own political affairs on
a higher level and show the youth of this society that
we can succeed with integrity.
Considering, however, that another presidential
election is looming in the near future, that might not
be so easy.
After the last presidential election, I pointed
out to some of my friends in both parties that if a
student in high school had behaved like a campaign
manager for either candidate in that election, he or
she probably would have been suspended from school for
unacceptable behavior. The last presidential election
was one of the meanest and nastiest national political
displays I had ever witnessed.
Some of my friends who study history have
disagreed with me, pointing out that historically our
politics, especially national politics, have often
been nasty.
Maybe that is so. But in today's age of blogging
on the Internet, instant text messaging and vicious
computer email attacks- to say nothing about often
preposterously negative ads on television- it's not
just that the level of negative campaigns are
ferocious. Thanks to the advancements of modern
technology, often unsubstantiated character attacks on
candidates constantly fly through the daily
consciousness of just about anyone who goes on to the
computer or turns on a television set during election
time.
Perhaps just by itself nasty politics cannot be
blamed for the alarming responses in the survey of
American teens that I mentioned at the top of this
article. But when you add it to the sum of other
negative influences in society, such as violent video
games, I believe it becomes a contributing factor.
That is, kids who grew up killing opponents on a
video screen already have put into their consciousness
a susceptibility to justify this type of negative
behavior in real life, as I have already suggested.
When we expose these same young people to nasty
and dirty political campaigns that we, the adults of
this society are conducting, should we really be
surprised if we end up raising a generation of
American youth that believes it's okay to cheat, steal
and even use violence to succeed?
Apparently, there is a battle of souls of our
teenagers.
And we can win it. But to do so, all of us who are
involved in any way in politics, even though we may
disagree with each other vehemently on certain issues
and the outcomes of elections- we must all treat each
other, especially publicly, with decency and respect.
I believe that only by example can we embrace the
souls of our teenagers and show them by our behavior
that it is integrity and honor that has made this
nation great- and that only by integrity and honor
will we maintain its greatness! |
