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Apparently, One-Third of Teens Would Act Unethically to Get Ahead (see link). Of course another quarter said they “weren’t sure” (translation: “are you sure my parents aren’t going to read my answers?”) That puts the true number somewhere around half I guess. Half of teenagers would act unethically to get ahead. Now, I would bet that what they don’t tell you is that it goes up to about 95% somewhere around college graduation.

You would think that people would learn from watching the Enrons and Worldcoms of the world, but then again the S&L bailouts of the eighties only seemed to teach us the importance of smarter cheating (can you say Clinton? He learned his PR tricks from Reagan). Michael Milken was hired as a business consultant immediately out of prison. (This is hilarious- but true.)

What about it? Is the question “would you act unethically,” or is it, “how much would it take for you to act unethically?” Or is it “If you knew you wouldn’t get caught…” Whatever the case, it’s a pretty hairy issue. I think everyone would like to think of themselves as an ethical, but it can be awfully difficult these days to find someone who puts ethics above their own personal gain. Don’t count tomorrow’s youth out, though; also according to the study, 56% believe that ethical people achieve more. What do you think? Are we heading towards more ethical times, or less?