The Decline of Morality in Schools

One morning in April 1999, the calm was shattered in the town of Littleton, near Denver, Colorado, U.S.A. Two youths in black trench coats entered the local high school and began shooting at students and teachers. They also detonated bombs. Twelve students and a teacher were killed, and more than 20 were wounded. The perpetrators ended the massacre by taking their own lives. They were only 17 and 18 years old. This is but one incident fostered by the decline of morality as a whole in society today. Dr. Thomas Plante (2012), a professor of psychology laments, “I don't know about you but I'm amazed at what seems to be considered as acceptable behavior out there...a lack of polite civility often rules the day. This has been true for a long time but it appears to be getting worse...perhaps much worse.” The definition of “morality” as well as whether or not schools are encroaching on parental responsibility by teaching and promoting it are hot button issues among many today, but facts are facts. The tragedy above exemplifies the fact; and the fact is the decline in morality has resulted in some very unsettling consequences inside school walls.

Jean Piaget (1932) is among the first of psychologists who embraced the touchy issue of morality, and more specifically, the development of morality in children. To summarize his findings, children’s view of morality undergoes many changes as they age, the most important of these beginning around age ten. Essentially, what Piaget uncovered is that a series of changes occur between the ages of 10 and 12, just when the child begins to enter the general stage of formal operations, and intellectual development continues to develop until at least age sixteen. Therefore, a child’s view ...

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...is teaching youths morality, but simply that the morals are being taught, and soon. The consequences are irreversible and deadly.

Works Cited

1. Plante, T. (2012, January 18). Do the right thing: What ever happened to nice as a virtue? [Blog]. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/do-the-right-thing/201201/what-ever-happened-nice-virtue

2. Crain, W. C. (1985). Kohlberg’s stages of moral development. In Theories of development (118-136). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

3. Piaget, J. (1932). The moral judgment of the child. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press

4. School violence: weapons, crime and bullying. Retrieved from http://www.nssc1.org/cases-in-the-news.html

5. Sommers, Christina Hoff. (March 1999). Are we living in a moral stone age, 127 (2646). Retrieved from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_2646_127/ai_54098986/