Pervasive societal decline

By Paul M. Weyrich
web posted June 3, 2004

When Bill Cosby dared to criticize the condition of parenting
among lower-income blacks, many leaders of the black
community took him to task for challenging the conventions of
Political Correctness. An unspoken Iron Curtain has obstructed
even black Americans from engaging in honest criticism about
the need for other blacks to exercise greater parental
responsibility. However, many blacks, including some who are
leaders, were glad that Cosby spoke up even though they may
not be in total agreement with his comments. They at least
appreciate that he initiated an honest debate.

Bill Cosby did not need to stop where he did when it comes to
criticizing our contemporary American culture. Some other things
need to be said. For one, he might have criticized the
widespread lack of honesty that pervades all levels of American
society, including those children who come from some of our
best neighborhoods and those who attend some of our most elite
schools.

Case in point: The New York Post recently reported that ten
Princeton University students were caught shoplifting within the
last few months. Local prosecutor Marc Citron was quoted in a
New Jersey newspaper: "Everybody wants to hide it. Nobody
wants to think that a Princeton University student, a future
secretary of state...would dare to commit a shoplifting...What
troubles me is that some of the students feel that they are so
privileged, that they have the privilege [to steal]. "

This is not the only time that Princeton students have been cited
for lapsed values. Just last year, DailyPrincetonian.com columnist
Aileen Nielsen wrote, "Without entering into details, I'll say that
I've heard of several cases of theft between roommates (no, not
borrowing a favorite sweater). I've heard of physical fights
between roommates. I've heard of people waking up to hear a
roommate having sex in the lower bunk. I don't think I know
people who are unusually unlucky, so I'm pretty sure everyone
has heard similar (or probably worse) stories from people who
didn't get everything they were hoping for in a freshman
roommate."

Miss Nielsen added, "If Princeton wants public perception to be
uniformly positive about our students... we ought to make it clear
exactly what we expect from students in personal behavior, and
enforce these expectations at the level their underlying
importance really demands."

The comments made to CNN.com a few years ago by a 17-
year old student at a Virginia high school show that "doing well"
no longer requires honest mastery of one's work: The better
grades you have, the better school you get into, the better you're
going to do in life. In addition, if you learn to cut corners to do
that, you're going to be saving yourself time and energy. In the
real world, that's what's going to be going on. The better you do,
that's what shows. It's not how moral you were in getting there.

The Josephson Institute of Ethics conducted a survey a few
years ago that measured cheating among students. Its results are
disturbing, to say the least. The percentage of students who
admitted to cheating on an exam at least once during the past
year rose from 61 per cent in 1992 to 74 per cent ten years
later. The percentage in 2002 who admitted they would lie to
obtain a good job jumped from 28 per cent to 37 per cent in a
two-year period. Nor did simply attending a religious school
prove effective in countering this trend. The Josephson Institute
discovered that student leadership and students attending
religious schools shared many of the same attitudes that were
held by the survey's other respondents.

That is only the tip of the problem. Teen promiscuity and its
consequences that include use of birth control, abortion, and
sexually transmitted diseases can be covered up with money in
more affluent families. So can alcohol and drug abuse. All too
often young Americans -- regardless of race or class -- fall
victim to such problems. Nevertheless, such problems are less
likely to happen when parents make clear to their children that
they are expected to behave according to a strict code of
behavior and send their children to schools that reinforce those
values.

The answer to this decline in the American character starts with
the foremost institutions of our society: The family, for one. No
one will have a more important influence over their children than
parents will. They set the example by how they live their own
lives. Too many American parents -- regardless of race or class
-- are unwilling to set strict boundaries and to enforce them. Too
many American parents have been unwilling to raise their
children to respect the Judeo-Christian values essential to a
stable, well-functioning society. Too many parents have been
AWOL in their children's lives, failing to provide the guidance
they need to lead honest, productive lives. Too many American
parents have not tuned out the worst of contemporary culture,
letting it come into their homes and influence their children.
 
Some young Americans appear to be recovering our nation's lost
sense of moral purpose. Many have been home-schooled where
they learned the three R's plus a fourth: religion. A fortunate few
are able to figure it out for themselves, despite receiving the
opposite message from their parents. Many attend religious
colleges, including those such as Patrick Henry and Christendom
College, and do so by choice because they adhere to stricter
standards and moral absolutes. These younger Americans with a
sense of moral purpose hold themselves apart from the worst of
contemporary culture and mores. They expect to lead lives that
honor God, country and family. We can be thankful that there
are such young people. Indeed, we had better place our faith
and trust in them because otherwise we will be at the mercy of
young Americans who may, or may not, decide to do what is
right.

Paul M. Weyrich is CEO and Chairman of the Free Congress
Foundation (http://www.freecongress.org/).

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