More than half of high school students said that they would commit a crime and spend a year in jail if they could get 1 billion won in return, a survey showed, Tuesday.
According to the survey conducted by Hungsadan Transparency Movement of 11,000 elementary, middle and high schoolers, 56 percent of high school students said they would willingly take a one-year prison sentence in return for 1 billion won.
The older they get, the higher the ratio of children answering yes. Among elementary school students, 17 percent said yes to that deal, while 39 percent of the middle school students surveyed said they would.
“We did the same survey in 2012 and 2013, and the ratio of children who think positive about crime-for-money has grown, showing that their sense of ethics is weakening,” an official of the civic group said.
Some 45 percent of high school students also said that as long as they themselves do not suffer financial setbacks, they do not care whether others have such difficulties or not.
About 26 percent of elementary schoolers, 46 percent of middle schoolers and 63 percent of high school students said they copy content from the Internet without making a single change when they do homework.
When asked whether it is okay to copy other students’ homework, 15 percent of the elementary schoolchildren said yes, while 58 percent of middle school students and 71 percent of high school students said they would do it.
“Children become more unethical as they get older,” the official said. “We believe that the education system’s focus on college entrance exams devastates their community spirit and sense of ethics.”