[EDITORIALS]Time for a moral revolution

There seems to be no end to cheating scandals. We see dozens more students every day who allegedly cheated on the national college entrance examination. They used mobile phone text messaging or traded identity pictures to have someone else take the test.
We could not have possibly imagined that students from top high schools, medical schools or teachers from cram schools could be involved in this series of wrongdoings, but they were involved and it has shocked us all. What has caused the education system here to go so wrong?
Students who were caught cheating on this year’s College Scholastic Ability Test said they used the same methods they have been using to cheat on their mid-term or final examinations. They said such practices were common in schools and school authorities and teachers usually let the students cheat on tests. The reason is that they did not want to irritate nervous test takers who were supposedly under heavy pressure in their cramming. Supervisors at the national college test centers reacted the same way on Nov. 17. But they should realize that their collaboration encouraged the test takers to cheat.
Cheating on tests is a failure in teaching the most basic lesson of what is wrong and right. A social atmosphere which emphasizes the end result of winning, without worring about the means used, also did its share. We are not teaching younger students to break away from temptations and fight fairly instead.
We cannot only discipline the students and tell them to act uprightly and honestly when this country is riddled with illegal acts and frauds. We must use this opportunity to start a nationwide moral rearmament movement. This society needs a system that will teach people what fair competition means. Moreover, the role of schools and teachers is important. If a teacher cannot discipline a student’s wrongdoings, it would be right for him or her to give up teaching.
In homes, parents should not be concerned so much about their childrens’ grades, but should pay attention to whether the child deserved the grades he brought home.
Students need to be educated again on moral issues related to mobile phones and the use of the Internet. The Education Ministry should come up with a fundamental measure to fix up the fraudulent reality of Korea’s education.