A new study reveals the extent to which high school students are lying, stealing, and cheating.

Overall, 30 percent of students admitted to stealing from a store within the past year, a two percent rise from 2006. More than one third of boys (35 percent) said they had stolen goods, compared to 26 percent of girls.

An overwhelming majority, 83 percent, of public school and private religious school students admitted to lying to their parents about something significant, compared to 78 percent for those attending independent non-religious schools.

“Cheating in school continues to be rampant and it’s getting worse,” the study found. Amongst those surveyed, 64 percent said they had cheated on a test, compared to 60 percent in 2006. And 38 percent said they had done so two or more times.

Despite no significant gender differences on exam cheating, students from non-religious independent schools had the lowest cheating rate, 47 percent, compared to 63 percent of students attending religious schools. . . .

“As bad as these numbers are, it appears they understate the level of dishonesty exhibited by America’s youth,” the study warned, noting than more than a fourth of the students (26 percent) admitted they had lied on at least one or two of the survey questions.

“Despite these high levels of dishonesty, these same kids have a high self-image when it comes to ethics.”

Some 93 percent of students indicated satisfaction with their own character and ethics, with 77 percent saying that “when it comes to doing what is right, I am better than most people I know.”

It would be easy to say that young people who are taught that there is no truth should, logically, have no compunction about lying. But students at RELIGIOUS schools are WORSE than students at non-religious private schools when it comes to cheating, just a percentage point below students in public schools.

What can be done?

Some Roman Catholic bishops are saying that if Barack Obama signs the Freedom of Choice Act, which could force even religiously-affiliated hospitals to commit abortion, they would shut down all Catholic hospitals. That’s one-third of the hospitals in America. That would have a huge negative impact on our nation’s health care.See Terry Mattingly’s discussion of an article in Slate.

The left wing of the Democratic party is frustrated that Barack Obama, judging from his appointments and announcements, is not handing them a bunch of victories. Obama seems to be going slow in withdrawing from Iraq, making corporate free market types his economics advisors, and reaching out across party and ideological lines. He even forgave Joe Lieberman for supporting John McCain, letting him stay in the democratic caucus and keep his senate committees. Many on the left are angry because they were his most ardent supporters, and they expect payback.

I consider this to be encouraging good news. Let’s see how Obama handles his extremist supporters. Also, everyone should remember that he hasn’t taken office yet.