Ablow says, “We need a national program to address how we can return to our core selves, including our instincts about what is right and what is wrong. The proper place for this preventive psychological medicine is the schools.”

How wrong can you be? The proper place to begin teaching right from wrong is IN ONE’S HOME BY ONE’S PARENTS. It’s isn’t our school’s place to become surrogate parents. Teachers should be teaching what has become so old-fashioned…..teaching the 3 Rs….reading, writing, and arithmetic. Basic skills. They’ve become handicapped with being nannies that they can no longer teach. Parents need to realize that they have to become un-self-absorbed if they want to raise decent children. Sadly, this generation of parents seem to be lacking in any kind of adult emotions and don’t seem to have grown up themselves. Ultimately, we learn our values from our parents, so the blame should be put squarely on the shoulders of parents. This generation of young people are just scary. And their parents are no better.

The reason Truth is thrown to the wayside, is because this world points to no “absolute” truth. The world teaches that everyone’s opinion and beliefs are equally valid, except those that are politically incorrect.

Jesus Christ said “I am the way, the truth, and the light. No one comes to the Father except by Me”. For Christians, Jesus Christ IS truth, and the standard for truth. Without a standard, everyone is left to their own devices.

I totally agree with you doctor, this is the beginning of the decadency of an empire. We got to rescue the values and moral of our country.

I think we still have something what people believe in and are the studies and research. If we show to people with studies and research how bad is lying and deceiving people (weather in school, in a store, in a relationship) , including how bad for the country is to promote corrupted media content like realities but with real data, for example the last study about the increase of adolescent pregnancy due the increase sexual content in soup operas. I think the government should promote this kind of studies and make them public.

Teenagers cheat? Oh my gosh! Who would have thought? A whole bunch of adults do too. Just ask a cop how many speeding tickets they have written. Better yet, ask the IRS how many adults cheat.

C’mon man! Is this what is passing for “news?”

Ditto what Zelda said about this starting at HOME. I don’t know if I agree with her broad strokes regarding today’s parents or kids, but there is no doubt that it’s a parent’s job to teach their children right and wrong, not the school’s. You know, that’s pretty much the parental job description: food, shelter, clothing and teaching kids how to grow into good adults.
If your kid is an amoral jerk, don’t point fingers to the school or the government (scary thought: our kids taught ethics by politicians) but take a good look in the mirror and modify your behavior accordingly.

The proper place for this preventative psychological medicine is NOT in the schools but rather in the home.

Why shouldn’t people lie and cheat? Really, specifically, why is it wrong to do so? The prevalent morality these days is Darwinian survival of the fittest, or else the optimistic humanist philosophy that says something is wrong only when it specifically, directly harms another person. Someone who gets better grades is more likely to get into college or get a job than someone else, and if someone is smart enough to get away with it, they are stronger from a Darwin viewpoint. They are also not directly doing harm to anyone else, since others in the class have the same opportunity to cheat and likewise get better grades. So, by the prevalent morality, lying/cheating is not wrong.

It’s only a Judeo-Christian morality that says lying/cheating is wrong. The article says that schools should address the problems of things like people being “disconnect[ed] from their thoughts and feelings”. But it’s not about being “disconnected”. It’s about the morality that’s being taught. Judeo-Christian morality can’t be taught in schools because of the supposed separation of church and state. It’s not being taught at home either to the extent that it was several years ago. Why do you expect people to follow Judeo-Christian morality if the opposite – the things in the above paragraph – are what is being taught to people in school and at home?

Let’s see, our government embraces the religion of atheism which results in futile existentialism and a generation of insatiable, selfish hedonists. We expect schools to raise children because those responsible for raising children are either too busy working or they do not want children to infringe upon their pitiful life. Our corporations, unions, educational institutions, media, and government have abandoned the concept of truth and concentrate on filling their bank accounts and empowering themselves.

Why would it be a surprise that cheating is not viewed as unethical? Without morals, there is no real definition of ethical behavior. The words “ought” and “should” have been removed from our social vocabulary. That is what happens when God is taken out of our social context. Our nation will reap what it sows.

Let’s see, our government embraces atheism as its religion resulting in a society based on futile existentialism and a generation of selfish hedonists. Those who should be responsible for raising children have instead abandoned them for their own self-serving goals because after all, it’s all about me and they believe in the absurdity that quality time makes up for quantity. Our nation’s institutions are filled with people who are more interested in their bank accounts and empowering themselves than actually resolving problems.

Why would it be a surprise that cheating is not considered unethical? Once God is taken out of the social fabric, anything goes because there is no moral authority. The words “ought,” “should,” and “truth” have been removed from the social vocabulary. Welcome to the wild west. Our country will reap what it sows.

Zelda is right on. Honesty, among other ethical practices should be taught in the home by a child’s parents. Why should we expect someone else to raise our children? Teachers are struggeling as it is trying to teach the basics of education without trying to teach the basics of life.

Good points about the chilling effects of secularization, though not specifically called that in the article. Funny that not a word was mentioned about the decline of religious authority in modern society and the impact that has. I am sure that many will reply that the fading away of anything religious is a good thing, but please re-read the article and explain how that is?

Once upon a time faith communities were the field guides of personal conduct and the counter balance against which moral decisions were weighed. Then folks got tired of being told that yes, there are such things as moral standards and no, your behavior does not make the grade. Clearly that seems to be the case with these kids.

As far as the comment about the schools being the salvation of this morally adrift generation, well it is simply an asinine assertion. Public education is at the very heart of the problem. The public school system is more concerned with a child’s self esteem and promoting liberal social agenda than actually teaching. Let’s have fewer condoms on bananas and more trig and history if you please. Oh, and tell little Billy to pull his britches up or invest in a belt. He looks ridiculous!

Glen-I don’t want the surgeon to operate on me who cheated his way through medical school and through his boards. Would you take a chance with that? The same can be applied to all facets of life, you just have not taken to time to think how cheating can really effect others. When someone cheats or is dishonest, there is a lot more at stake than that person at that moment-their family, their career, their free life (meaning going to jail).

I once heard that selfishness is really self-destruction in slow motion. Cheating and lying are self-destructive behaviors that will result is the destruction of our civilization.

It should come as no coincidence that the further our country moves away from the Christian-based principles of our founding fathers, the worse of shape the country is in. Take a look at our society as a whole and we’re pretty much where Rome and Greece were when they fell. Things will not get better, as our culture is more and more comfortable with the lifestyle that so many people have already settled into. The more relaxed and harmless things seem, the easier it is to let sin control your life.

As the USA, we’re pretty much the last bastion of freedom and Christianity that this world has, and believe me, once we’ve made that final step away from God, the end isn’t far off at all for any of us.

We can blame schools, politicians, whatever, but the only way to save yourself from all of this is to accept Jesus Christ into your life and to start living for Him. Only through dedicating your life to Christ can you be assured that no matter how bad things get here, an eternity in Heaven with God will wash away all the pain you’ve endured to get there.

We took God out of the Schools and (unsurprisingly) they went straight to Hell.

Why is this such a shock? Christians have been warning about this for DECADES. They knew it would happen, and here it is, just as they said it would be.

What I find MORE disturbing is Dr. Keith’s willingness to;

A) Propose more Secular social programs to fix the issue. (Yeah, let’s just put that fire out with this bucket of GASOLINE. That should work GREAT!)

b) Totally miss the source of the issue by picking on (of all things) Video Games.

Here’s the clue stick Doc; The problem isn’t video games, it’s a lack of Morals and Morality brought about by decades of rampant secularism in the public sphere. The only way to fix this will be to return to Socially Conservative values on a society-wide basis. That means dropping Secularism and Atheism and mass-conversions to Christianity and Judaism. Anyone see that happening any time soon? Yeah, me neither.

Frankly, I think we are too far gone at this point. It’s going to take a social/economic collapse along with many deaths and much pain and misery before the American people are humbled before God enough to abandon secularism and the 1960’s counter culture hegemony and return to His ways.

As Thomas Jefferson once said; “I tremble for my Country when I remember that God is Just.”

Let us pray that His Justice is tempered with Mercy, or all hope for America is lost.

1) Parents need to respect teachers and pass that respect to their children.
They need to reward creativity, originality, and the diligence of hard work and study – NOT the report card of all “A”s. Rewarding a report card only shows favoritism to the score, not the effort. This whole system needs to be reworked.

2) Teachers need to teach the subject matter and ensure that children who are struggling receive a little more time to “get it”. They do not need to express their preferences (or lack) of religion, sexuality, or political affiliation/views – that is the job of the parents and the child to decide.

3) Make financial education mandatory.
We are slaves to our money, either to provide just enough, or to buy luxuries to compete with the Jones. Teach fiscal responsibility and let them choose a career they love and have the ability to retire by 30, rather than slaving on just a salary until they die.

4) Less mandatory classes, and more elective classes at all levels of education.
To read, write, perform basic mathematical functions (this includes financial management), understand fundamental scientific concepts, and read some local and global history – everything else should be electives that parents and children can choose. Advanced classes, shops, arts, etc. When you have a problem, you see a specialist. It is essential to capitalize on strengths, and minimize weaknesses. Not everyone is a propulsion engineer. Remove unnecessary subjects in the way of skill mastery.

I completely agree with Dr. Ablow.

While it would be ideal to have ethics taught in the home, the fact remains that in many homes, children are being raised by parents of questionable character: parents who have no business raising children at all. Yet these children do exist, and will doubtless grow into adults of even more questionable character, and then go on to produce offspring of their own… Pretty grim.

The idea of teaching ethics (and even empathy) in school, beginning as early as kindergarten is a brilliant and practical solution to this huge problem. It’s far less fanciful than my idea of putting something in the water supply which would render all citizens sterile, and requiring anyone who wants to reproduce to undergo a series of stringent psychological tests, which, if passed, would earn them the antidote to whatever is in the water.

I don’t see my idea happening anytime soon (plus there’d be way too many problems with it), but I don’t see anything stopping Dr. Ablow’s very sane idea from coming to fruition (and possibly saving the human race) as soon as possible. This is more important than most people think.

Just a question for all the ‘Christians’ out there: how many the the 1000’s of students questions would say they were Chrisitians? Or at least they came from a Christian home?
We point our fingers at the secularization of America but who has let it happen and in some cases helped it along. We have no one to blame but ourselves and no one to fear but us. We are THEM!

Your analysis reveals that you are a major part of the problem. In your entire article you fail to mention the legitimate and necessary role that religion and faith in a transcendant God must play if the term ethics is to have any meaning at all. I point you to a great teacher on this very subject, Ravi Zacharias and I recommend his book, “Can Man Live Without God?”

Lest you are tempted to fall into the intellectually vapid trap that in a pluarlistic society no one religion can be expected to proclaim the truth, I point you to Dr. Zacharias’ second book, “Deliver Us From Evil” in which he examines the logical outworkings of a culture that exthols the virtue of pluarlism.

This is a big problem and I am so glad that he said “The weakness of character in teenagers is only the latest symptom of a willingness to lie that permeates our culture. This pathology is getting worse, generation-by-generation, and I believe it represents a threat to the American family, the rule of law and our economy. It is the Trojan Horse amidst us, from which can pour an epidemic of fiction that ultimately cripples our ability to truthfully and effectively address our very real problems.”

We are in deep trouble as a society. The cause isn’t laziness as some might think. It’s really a willful belief system that many people have fallen for that forces people to not judge bad behavior and to “tolerate” bad behaviors.

We can’t judge people any more because that means saying one thing is better than another – and this makes us “not equal.” The whole of the inner cities have been under this thinking for 40 years. This is why the inner cities stay a mess. I grew up on the South Side of Chicago and it’s still a mess after all these years.

I can’t recommend enough a video on YouTube called “HOW MODERN LIBERALS THINK”. It’s at youtube.com/watch?v=eaE98w1KZ-c.

This belief system where everything has to be “equal” is destroying us. Modern Liberals talk about fairness and justice, but how is it fair that everyone is equally poor? Or how is it justice if bad behaviors are ignored?

As I said, watch the video, including the Q&A at the end. It’s very, very good! Thanks!

The government should take that $800 billion “bailout” of our wretched, greedy and sinfully managed financial and business systems, and invest it all in a unilateral campaign to convert all U.S. residents to Christianity. I mean, we are pretty much abandoning so many other constitutional rights in order to ensure the safety and stability of our nation, it really makes sense to just do away with any pretense that we cannot exist without a Christian domination of law and society, right?

To start, all schools should immediately terminate or expel any teachers, students and staff who have ever displayed, supported or expressed the following:
- Homosexuality
- Adultery (including any offspring without documentation of conception and birth within a consecrated marriage and of course anyone who is currently or ever lived in adulterous sin…to be sure, all single women who are not living with relatives should also be investigated)
- Abortion (all parents should have immediate and complete access to any school employee’s or student’s medical records to ensure that they are of pure mind and body, and have never engaged in murder of the unborn lest their sin-plagued souls corrupt other children)
- Any non-Judeo-Christian religion (documentation of lifetime church attendance required to ensure no “secret” apostates poison our kids)

Then everything will be perfect…our nation will transform into completely moral, competent human beings without fault or failure. Right?

John – I have to answer your question two different ways since my original post posited 2 different philosophies:

1. (Darwinist) If I’m the surgeon who cheated, I don’t care about the patients – I just have to *act* like I care to get ahead in life. If I get away with the cheating, my patients will never know about it. Also, if I’m smart, I will realize that I will not get away with cheating on everything without getting caught, so I’ll pick and choose – similar to answer #2 below.

2. (optimistic Humanist) I believe I’ll still learn things well enough to be a good doctor. I won’t be trying to cheat on every test (I’d never get away with that even if I tried). Rather, I’ll pick and choose things – for example, getting an English paper off the internet which would give me more study time for my science class (since I’m studying to be a doctor). That can help me end up knowing my science better and being a better doctor than the students who didn’t cheat.

I challenge anyone out there to prove to me that lying and cheating are wrong in the absence of moral absolutes. I don’t think you can do it, since even the terms “right” and “wrong” have no moral meaning in the absence of some moral absolute.

Truth is the answer. Just bring back truth to our children.
Jesus said: “I am the way the TRUTH and the life”.

1. Put God back in school.

2. Restore our Constitution (untwisted) to our country.
Bett

Teaching right and wrong belongs in the home and churches and then that basic, strong value system can be backed up by the school system.

Schools aren’t likely to help. After all, it is schools that teach people not to judge anyone. A non-judgmental attitude is more valuable than truth to most schools.

Our country’s founding fathers did not do so under so-called Christian beliefs. They did so for freedom from persecution BECAUSE of their chosen religions. Anyone who is familiar with the Bill of Rights already knows about the freedom of religion.

God has no business in our schools, in our politics, in our government. The country isn’t going to “hell” because of a lack of faith in God. The country is going to “hell” (I don’t believe in it, hence the quotes) because in general, no-one is willing to accept responsibility for their own actions. Just a couple days ago, a father pleaded ignorance to the fact that the gun he shot his 3-year-old son in the face with was loaded. Way to abdicate responsibility as a parent.

Parents, DO YOUR JOB. You created life, now nurture it properly. It is not up to our schools, our teachers, to instill morality in our children. It is not up to our governments to provide you with incentives to do so. Our government has no place in governance of morality. Separation of church and state came about for a reason; abuse of power to control the masses.

As for all you religious zealots, grow a pair. When you can prove to me without a SHRED of doubt that your so-called God exists and actually gives a hoot for those of us living on this little speck in the universe, I’ll jump on your bandwagon. Until then, leave me alone.

We need a national program to address how we can return to our core selves, including our instincts about what is right and what is wrong. The proper place for this preventive psychological medicine is the schools. But the proper timing for implementation has to be as early as kindergarten.

Decent article until you decided the governement could solve this problem. Parents, not Barak Obama, teach honesty, ethics, and right and wrong. I swear, if I have to sell a kidney, my kid will not step inside a government education instituation.