By ANTHONY J. BUZZELLI

The comic actor W.C. Fields once observed that “a thing worth having is a thing worth cheating for.” A cynical view, to be sure. But there isn’t a business executive anywhere who doesn’t worry even a little about the integrity of his or her workforce,or of the next generation of workers coming up behind Gen Y.

Ethical debates pervade every aspect of American society. They take place in the C-suites of major corporations. They’re fixtures in the political arena, as the recent Congressional elections attest. And they circulate through the classrooms and corridors of middle and high schools, with teenagers facing pressures to cheat. As business leaders, the last thing we want is a new generation of professionals unable to discern what’s ethically appropriate in the workplace. So it’s critical we learn everything we can about what students think of bending the rules to get ahead.

For the past few years, Deloitte and Junior Achievement have been searching for meaningful answers to some of these issues. We’ve conducted an annual survey to measure student attitudes about trust and integrity. We’ve asked kids between the ages of 13 and 18 what they think about cheating, the pressures to behave dishonestly, and how prepared they are to make ethical decisions.

Our latest survey produced some startling results. A significant number of teenagers told us they feel great pressure to succeed, no matter the cost. Almost 70 percent believe it will be as bad or worse once they join the workforce. Girls, it seems, are more prone to overwhelming pressure than boys.

Most teenagers say they’d never act unethically to get ahead yet seven out of 10 admitted lying during the previous year. More than one in five admitted to cheating on tests. In the abstract, they believe themselves to be ethical and honest. In practice, they concede examples of dishonest behavior. That’s a disconnect that forces us to question the certainty of their self-assessments.

But we also discovered that many feel poorly prepared to make the judgments we expect of them. So we’re faced with something of a dichotomy enormous pressure to succeed, balanced against a realization they may lack the very tools needed to withstand the pressure to cheat.

Better decisions

What’s the solution? We’re not na & #271;ve or unrealistic enough to think that lying, cheating, and cutting ethical corners will ever be completely eradicated. But we can help them learn to make better decisions. Education on ethical decision-making is crucial to making real progress. Training, classroom assistance, surveys that focus attention on these issues all are invaluable in defining ethical behavior and instilling it in lasting ways in our young people and our culture.

Ethics experts like David Miller, the executive director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, believe it is up to community and corporate leaders to carry that message forward. Certainly, there are many good and effective programs already in place. The “Excellence Through Ethics” program developed by Junior Achievement puts professionals in the classroom and exports that sense of corporate commitment to building a stronger ethical base. It begins as early as the fourth grade; deferring formalized ethics education until college could be a recipe for disaster. This year, these lessons will reach more than 175,000 students in Southern California.

As corporate and community leaders, we have an obligation to prepare students for the rigors of the working world they will inherit. If the post-Enron era has taught us anything, it’s that questions of trust and integrity must always be fully addressed if we are to retain the public trust and rebuild confidence in our businesses.

That has to start with our young people, if future workforces are to conduct their professional business honestly. Think of it as a kind of ethical intervention. Ultimately, it’s not a question of whether we should invest our time and resources. For the sake of our children, and the future of our businesses, we simply can’t afford not to.

Anthony J. Buzzelli serves as regional managing partner for the Pacific Southwest region of Deloitte in Los Angeles. He is also vice chairman, national managing partner, U.S. Regions for Deloitte & Touche LLP. Deloitte has underwritten Junior Achievement’s “Excellence Through Ethics” curriculum.