30 Nov 2008
Students lie, cheat, steal, but say they're good

We are suffering from a serious reality gap here, and I can assure you that things have indeed changed over time, despite the pontifications of the "experts" quoted in the article.

I went to high school armed, with a high powered rifle every day in my junior year. Lots of kids did: I ran trap lines to make extra money, and carried a rifle to put any poor critter out of it's misery that the trap hadn't finished in one quick kill. Granted, the gun stayed in the trunk of the car, but still, I never shot anyone. It never occurred to me to shoot anyone. A good portion of the school was armed - and nobody got shot. Ever. Unless they accidentally blew one of their own fingers off, or shot themselves in the ass.

You didn't need a permit to carry a concealed weapon. There were no security cameras in stores, or metal detectors in courthouses. There weren't any seat belts in cars, and the drinking age was 18 (for 3.2% beer).

Sure there was still crime, even shoplifting and vandalism. But it was something that somebody else did, somebody on their way to jail. And none of the hoods I encountered ever claimed "goodness" as an attribute.

Somehow, despite all of the "security" measures we've added to our lives over the years, things are seemingly less secure now that ever - and it's apparently getting worse.

And that's the real question: why?

AP - In the past year, 30 percent of U.S. high school students have stolen from a store and 64 percent have cheated on a test, according to a new, large-scale survey suggesting that Americans are too apathetic about ethical standards.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

22:02 /Politics | 5 comments | permanent link