Morals in the adult world: how youth see their contemporary elders

Abstract

The present study core issue is, how do today's youth judge adults concerning their moral criteria? The issue is twofold relevant for the ethical and moral education of adolescents, both for knowledge on their moral development and for their apparent desertion from the public sphere, favouring the private one. This study aimed at knowing how youth judge adults on moral grounds, while verifying whether youth do clearly separate public and private spheres. Two different surveys were carried out: survey 1 (S1) with 520 students who answered a 24-item closed questionnaire plus two open-ended questions; in S2 a 14-item questionnaire was applied to 36 students, followed by group debate on the issue. This article analyses issues dealt with at both surveys, as well as issues only inquired on at S1. Results show some mistrust among youth toward adult morality. Most don't consider them ethical and, in general, criticise the way they conduct the public sphere. Furthermore, they question adults' virtues, deeming egoism or self-interest to be their worse defect, associated to their sole concern with the private sphere. The adolescents were divided as to wisdom, accountability, and trust assigned to adults. Nevertheless, the image they present of their elders is relativised, according to whether they refer to public or private sphere adults.