From here, you can find the full study and such here.

New York, N.Y. —A nationwide survey released today by Girl Scouts of the USA finds that more American teenagers say they would make responsible decisions on a range of issues from lying and cheating to smoking and drinking than young people just a generation ago.

 

The study, conducted by the Girl Scout Research Institute (GSRI), is nearly identical to one Girl Scouts commissioned in 1989 and a comparison of the two shows a marked shift toward more ethical and responsible beliefs and values and civic involvement among teens and tweens.

 

Nearly two out of three young people (62 percent) surveyed in 2009, for example, say they would not cheat on a test compared to about half in 1989. Fifty-eight percent say they would refuse an alcoholic drink if offered one at a party. That's compared to fewer than half (46 percent) in 1989. And only 18 percent say they believe smoking is acceptable if a person finds it enjoyable. In 1989, more than a quarter of those surveyed thought smoking was acceptable.

 

“There's clearly a generational change taking place," said Kimberlee Salmond, senior researcher at GSRI and lead author of the study. "These young people strongly value diversity, acceptance and civic involvement, and almost across the board they're more committed to these values than were their predecessors 20 years ago."

 

The survey, Good Intentions: The Beliefs and Values of Teens and Tweens Today, also finds that that one third of teenagers say they intend to wait until they are married to have sex compared to less than a quarter (24 percent) in 1989. And two decades later, youth are more accepting of gay relationships. Fifty-nine percent of teenagers agree with the statement, "Gay and lesbian relationships are OK, if that is a person's choice." Only 31 percent agreed in 1989.

 

The study involved a nationwide survey of 3,263 girls and boys from the third through twelfth grades that queried them on issues ranging from ethics and diversity to civic involvement and peer pressure. The study was conducted with Harris Interactive (formerly Louis Harris Inc., the same firm that worked on the 1989 study).

 

The study also surveyed young people about issues that have become prominent with the advent of new media and technology. Only six percent say they would engage in cyberbullying by forwarding an embarrassing picture of a classmate to their friends. Some 40 percent would take the extra step of telling the originator of the e-mail what he or she did was wrong.

 

In addition, the data show that youth today value diversity. Among 7th- to 12th-graders, nearly six in ten (59 percent) say that being around people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds is important to them. This appears to be particularly important to girls (63 percent versus 55 percent of boys) and youth from diverse racial or ethnic backgrounds. (This question was not asked in 1989).

 

And young people today appear to have a stronger sense of civic engagement. Compared to 20 years ago, youth today are more likely to say they intend to vote in the future (84 percent vs. 77 percent), as well as give to charity (76 percent vs. 63 percent). Some 79 percent say they will volunteer in their communities.

 

In addition, 71 percent say their religious beliefs are important to them, and this group is not as likely as less religious or nonreligious young people to say they would lie, cheat, drink and have sex.

 

The study also uncovered differences among boys and girls. Among teenagers, girls are less likely than boys to say they would have sex (18 percent vs. 38 percent) or advise an abortion (6 percent vs. 12 percent), and are more likely to give to charity (80 percent vs. 72 percent) and volunteer in their community (81 percent vs. 77 percent).

 

Methodology

Good Intentions: The Beliefs and Values of Teens and Tweens Today was conducted among a national sample of 3,263 students—boys and girls in grades 3 through 12 both in and out of Girl Scouting—using online and school-based techniques between October 2, 2008, and January 23, 2009. The data were weighted to key demographic variables to align with the national population of U.S. students in this age group.

 

I thought this was interesting, especially since more and more people are saying the kids of today aren't 'up to scratch'. And the huge differences in responses between males and females.

I question the validity of this study. They should have had a lie detector hooked up to those being asked the questions, because in these days of moral decline, I fail to see how we have improved since a generation ago (obviously, I did not exist back then, so it is not based on personal experience).

This study goes against statistics. I'm not saying more.

Yeah... Ask all of the kids in third grade when they want to have sex >.>

They keyword is this is what they SAY, not necessarily what they believe. I find this one interesting though "one third of teenagers say they intend to wait until they are married to have sex compared to less than a quarter (24 percent) in 1989."

 

Whats with the big drive behind this "no sex before marriage" thing in the US? I guess it's a bit different where I live, because strong religious affiliation isn't quite as common. I think it's a mostly religious thing, isn't it?

As Jeffwilson99 said, the key word in the topic title is say. Everyone would like to think they would do the right thing and make the right choices in life but when faced with the situation (whatever it may be) their actions may be different than they would have hoped.

 

This does bring up a wider point though, it's the perogative of every generation to bash the younger generations. Every generation does it to their younger groups because they have a nostalgic memoryof their own generation that doesn't necessarily have any basic in fact. For example, here in the UK everyone says today's youth is far more violent than they were in the past but in previous generations had football violence up and down the country, tax riots and violence between mods and rockers. Also violent crime is at a record low (even with better reporting).

Unless people are hooked up to a polygraph you have to take this comparative things with a bucket of salt. I wouldn't trust it much.

You guys know real life polygraphs are like 60% accurate, right?

What with the big drive behind this "no sex before marriage" thing in the US? I guess it's a bit different where I live, because strong religious affiliation isn't quite as common. I think it's a mostly religious thing, isn't it?

America's a conservative country and where there are conservatives there are religion.

 

And where there is religion, there are liars. People who say they will do something but don't do it.

 

AKA, this study.

 

 

Everybody responds with the cliché response. No [bleep]ing duh it's going to be the "good" answer.

Yeah, most kids aren't willing to tell the truth about stuff like that, even for surveys. All it proves is that kids are more afraid of getting in trouble for what they think. Either that or the rest of the world totally contradicts what the people I know actually think.

Just because they say they would do something in a particular situation, it doesn't necessarily mean they will. Think about peer pressure, for example. It's a huge fallacy to assume that this study shows that kids are getting better at anything.

I find it quite hard to believe that - they may think they'll make the right decision but unfortunately what I see in the majority of young teenagers and even young adults shows alarming lack of maturity and bad decision-making.

For an accurate result, you need to interview more than Our Lady of Pepetual Suffering Catholic School, and even then, take the nuns out of the room.

How about studying how many of their opinions changed when they attended high school and then again when they attended a university. I'd like to see that statistic.

First, I want to say I don't put much store behind this survey, however:

 

Survey methodology becomes a lot more valid when it is done in comparison with another, as is this one with a similar survey 20 years ago. (Unless y'all can show that people are more likely to lie on surveys now then they were 20 years ago, the amount of lies in each survey should balance out.)

First, I want to say I don't put much store behind this survey, however:

 

Survey methodology becomes a lot more valid when it is done in comparison with another, as is this one with a similar survey 20 years ago. (Unless y'all can show that people are more likely to lie on surveys now then they were 20 years ago, the amount of lies in each survey should balance out.)

Unless today's generation really is more morally degraded, in which case the amount of claimed moral improvement is proof of the degeneration of society.

All this survey shows really is that youth are better at lying now.

We've done similar surveys in school. No one actually takes them seriously. So unless these people were actually pretty honest, the results would be skewed anyway.

You guys know real life polygraphs are like 60% accurate, right?

 

I find it a bit ironic that the 60% validity bit is also a number that varies greatly depending upon who you ask...much like this comparative study. ^^

 

What about the concept of political correctness and their effects on this survey? I'd be willing to bet that this generation is more indoctrinated to say the proper thing, rather than actually voice and commit to their beliefs.

I find it quite hard to believe that - they may think they'll make the right decision but unfortunately what I see in the majority of young teenagers and even young adults shows alarming lack of maturity and bad decision-making.

 

Just like the study, I think your comment highlights an error of judgment.

 

We often hear of kids behaving badly in the media or by word of mouth, but how often do we hear about kids doing good things? Never, because it doesn't make good news or gossip. This doesn't mean that all kids are bad, it's just a selection bias that skews the perception of young people.

 

And if your basis for that comment is a sample of people you know/in your school or something similar, often things like that are affected by a sort of memory bias - you're more likely to remeber the worst examples and this skews your perception.

 

Personally I wouldn't trust anyone's anecdotal evidence in this case. If people really want to prove that kids are getting worse, they'll need to do controlled studies.

You guys know real life polygraphs are like 60% accurate, right?

 

I find it a bit ironic that the 60% validity bit is also a number that varies greatly depending upon who you ask...much like this comparative study. ^^

 

What about the concept of political correctness and their effects on this survey? I'd be willing to bet that this generation is more indoctrinated to say the proper thing, rather than actually voice and commit to their beliefs.

Well, it depends what and who is beig studied. The more serious/embarressing the lie, the higher the accuracy. Still, I've heard the 60% stat for cases of criminal activity, so I'm inclined to believe that Hollywood tends to lie about that kind of stuff (hey, like usual).

So this survey was taken on a test of about 3,300 teenagers, and there are over 21,000,000 in America... Well, it's nice to know that 1/6363 of America's teenagers are saying on an anonymous multiple choice exam that they will make good choices in their life more than they did twenty years ago.

So this survey was taken on a test of about 3,300 teenagers, and there are over 21,000,000 in America... Well, it's nice to know that 1/6363 of America's teenagers are saying on an anonymous multiple choice exam that they will make good choices in their life more than they did twenty years ago.

Ya know, that as long as they did random sampling(not saying they did), that by laws of statistics, it is generally acceptable to generalize to a population from a sample.

So this survey was taken on a test of about 3,300 teenagers, and there are over 21,000,000 in America... Well, it's nice to know that 1/6363 of America's teenagers are saying on an anonymous multiple choice exam that they will make good choices in their life more than they did twenty years ago.

Hey, could you help me with my taxes? You seem like a smart enough guy.

Hmm, nice find. It's good to see that the youth are finally making the right decisions.

 

Unless, of course, they were lying about it.

This study is invalid from a statistical standpoint. Was random sampling done, and has there been multiple tests? There's too many issues with this study for me to accept it as reasonable.