Created: 12/3/2008 8:50:54 AM 
Undated -- Lying, cheating and stealing, behaviors a new survey says are occurring at higher rates than ever in our kids.
Thirty thousand students in 100 different high schools contributed to the survey. The Josephson Institute for Youth Ethics chose students from public, private, and religious schools.
They found that 64 percent admitted cheating on a test in the last year. Almost 40 percent did so two or more times.
Forty-two percent lied to save money. And get this, the percentage attending private religious schools was higher than the percentage of students who lie at non-religious schools.
"I think parenting from generation to generation tends to become more and more lenient in some case", Dennis Keller is a licensed psychological examiner. He's seen the attitudes of kids and adults change with the times.
Keller says, "It falls to us parents to be guides and teachers and examples. And so what does that say about us? What are we doing?
Whatever we're doing it's apparently telling kids it's okay to steal. The survey found that one out of every three boys and one out of every four girls admitted to stealing in the last year.
And yet 93 percent say they are satisfied with their personal ethics. Seventy-seven percent believe they do the right more than their friends.
Keller says it's not time to give up on our youth yet, "Wouldn't it be interesting if it reversed again. Kids that were feeling that maybe something was missing go the total other direction and rediscover old values. I don't know. I'm afraid if it keeps going in the direction it is, that's not good."
As bad as these numbers seem to represent the level of dishonesty in today's youth, things could be even worse.
More than one out of four students admitted they lied on one or more questions of the survey itself.
YOUR TAKE: Is honesty a thing of the past?
THV
