Is There a Decline In Our Integrity
 

Today on the front page of the Columbus Dispatch was a disturbing article about plagiarism and how a school board responded to it. Their response prompted the teacher who discovered plagiarism to resign.

My question is: Not just plagiarism, but any act that goes against integrity, morals, i.e. cheating, adultery, etc. when did that become the norm rather than the exception? How do we as a country expect our children to be morally right and display integrity when others don't?

Other comments are welcome.

Here is the article, lengthy but well written: http://www.dispatch.com/national-sto...2/1075656.html

... a million bucks...
 

Forgive my cynicism. Integrity, as we know it, is almost non-existent. Just look around, and see what is happening. People knowingly and flagrantly cheat, marital infidelity is almost expected, and even relatives may pull a fast one on ya to make a quick buck.
Call me stupid, but let me take a poll: how many people would find a million bucks, and diligently find the owner? More importantly (think about this), who would do the same for a dollar?

Hmmmmmmm.......

I teach a course entitled "Ethical Decision Making" at a local university and I can tell you that the whole issue of integrity/ethics is one that is definitely on the decline. It is sad how we now justify unethical behavior in the name of love, war, financial gain, or ____________ (just fill in the blank).

Re: ... a million bucks...
 

You know what as I was driving to class I thought about how my question is stupid.:eek: :eek: Of course our society has a lack of integrity. . . This country is founded on the blood of African slave labor, the land was stolen from Native Americans, etc. This is the country where WHITE MEN raped over and over BLACK women to continue to enslave their children and deny them the "inalienable rights." This is the same country that dehumanized Blacks for centuries.

Not just whites have compromised their integrity. We compromise our integrity everyday. For instance, when we should be working but instead we are on the phone or on the Internet. :eek: :p

For the record TLaw I would try to find the owner of the million dollars but no if I find a dollar pick it up, all day long I'll have good luck (remix) unless the owner is still in the vicinity.

I think that this article shows an instance of how a school system compromised its integrity to appease students and parents and lost a teacher in the process. Now that teacher will be a little jaded about her profession and the kids will continue, for the most part, to cheat.

Personally: I have had one of my semester projects STOLEN! :eek:
It was never turned in for credit because all of the professors in the department were looking out for it, but it was something that was worthy of my portfolio and I am still bitter about it.

For the case provided: What I cannot understand is why the principal wanted partial credit to be awarded plus lowering the value of the project. This only rewards wrongdoing. Instead, if the pre-assigned weight of the project forces them to repeat the grade or the class, then they will indeed learn why cheating is wrong.

Educated, informed and decent young people are our first line of defense. If we sacrifice discipline, training and guidance, then what is the point of an Honor Code, grades? What is the point of even assigning projects and reports if we do not genuinely expect them to do their best and turn in their own best efforts?

How can we then be upset at the Enron situation when we refuse to head off unethical behavior when we had the chance?

On a spiritual level, the Bible talks about how people shall see evil for good and good for evil. This is where we are now. Too many people have a false preception on what is wrong and what is right. However, we, as individuals, have the obligation to teach our children and relatives, what is accurately right and wrong.

Integrity means so many different things to differemnt people. But here is a definition that I found works the best for me:

Integrity is what you do when no one else is looking

ROOOO

That's What I Was Taught
 

That is exactly right. What do you do when you are alone, just you and God?

Re: Is There a Decline In Our Integrity
 

"My question is: Not just plagiarism, but any act that goes against integrity, morals, i.e. cheating, adultery, etc. when did that become the norm rather than the exception? How do we as a country expect our children to be morally right and display integrity when others don't?"

It became the norm when the concept of "what is right or wrong is according to you" was introduced. There is no universal standard for right or wrong or truth anymore. Right or wrong is now determined on how you feel.

Integrity is a personal issue. I would teach my children integrity by letting them know that when you do something wrong, you will suffer the consequences. If you cheat on a test and get caught, they will suffer the consequence of their actions even if they have to fail the course, goes on their record, etc. Suffering the consequences of your actions is rarely done and you can see the result of it in the school system.

I agree that there's a decline in integrity, but it begins at the top.
when parents think that their kids have to get ahead by any means, they advise this aberrant behavior. When we all observe the "rich and famous" being accorded undeserved awards, forgiven crimes and being allowed to benefit from their wrongdoing, the average person feels it's all right to follow this example.:(

Re: Re: Is There a Decline In Our Integrity
 

I couldn't agree more. People nowadays feel "If it's right for me then it's ok" no matter who they hurt in the process. I'm afraid it will only get worse until people start to have a ethical center that dictates what is right. For me that is my Lord and Savior. But when people have differents beliefs on what is right and wrong, and there is no uniform agreement, you have the planes taking down the WTC because 19 men thought it was right in the eyes of their god, but I'm sure that 3,000 people didn't feel the same way. The Bible says "No one is righteous no not one..." But this society has promotes self-indulgence and selfishness by teaching our youth to love themselves but forgetting about "Love your Neighbor... Enemies" etc. Suggles the idea you posed was originally taught by New Age folks, but they forgot the fatal flaw in their philosophy... Things are absolute!!! 2+2=4. Always will be... there may be some folks that say it is five, but they are only lying to themselves. If we all went along with this lie to say that it is five, we all are participants in the Great Lie. Hey "When the blind lead the blind they all fall into a pit." Something to think about, because our society is the same way.

Integrity?
 

I've always interpreted Integrity as the keeping of one's word. With that in mind, America is inherently morally challenged and depraved in integrity. From the day they took this land, to today; this country,the people that run it, the people we are taught to emulate make promises to break promises. If people don't respect God enough to not steal from churches and the people that make them; how can anyone living here ever expect people to trully live principled lives?

Is There Any Hope
 

How do we fix it? How do we restore integrity?

To the parents, how do you teach and emulate integrity to your children?

To those who will one day become parents, how will you teach your children the value of integrity or keeping one's word?