A high number of American teenagers believe they need to break the rules to succeed in school yet claim they’ll make ethical business decisions when they join the workforce, a national survey has found.
“In large numbers, teens today express a troubling contradiction when it comes to ethical readiness for the workforce,” said Junior Achievement, the organization that commissioned the survey.
“At the same time they express confidence in their preparedness to make the right choices in the future, they freely admit to unethical behavior today.”
The survey, conducted on behalf of Junior Achievement by the ap Research Corp., contacted 750 teens, evenly divided between boys and girls, in October.
Taking part in the survey were 179 youths from the western region of the United States which includes Colorado.
The organization said the answers underscore the continued need for training in ethical decision-making.
Among the key findings:
Junior Achievement-Rocky Mountain Inc., which helped sponsor the study, brings volunteers from the business community to the classroom, where they serve as role models and share their professional experiences with students.
During the 2008-09 school year, 3,200 volunteers will bring the Junior Achievement program to 92,000 students in 525 schools in metro Denver, northern Colorado and Wyoming.
Among the students, 16 percent said they sometimes cheat on a test; 46 percent said they sometimes lie to a parent and 23 percent said they sometimes illegally download music or download music without paying for it.
Of the 16 percent who said they cheat on tests, 76 percent said they cheat to succeed, 59 percent said they do it because of pressure from parents to succeed and 21 percent because “everyone does it.”
The organization said that the teens’ feelings about accountability, coupled with self-reported unethical behavior, raise a potential concern among employers because ties within a community, school, work environment or social network often guide behavior.
“Teens seem to be experiencing a sense of ethical confusion and relativism — an endemic ethical attitude of ‘the ends justify the means,’ ” said Junior Achievement.
Given the fact that the teens in a few years will be performing hospital lab tests, repairing cars, teaching children and investing money, the survey raises concerns for employers about how ethically prepared their future workforce will be, the organization said.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
