IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education (IOSR-JRME) e-ISSN: 2320–7388,p-ISSN: 2320–737X Volume 4, Issue 2 Ver. IV (Mar-Apr. 2014), PP 07-11 www.iosrjournals.org www.iosrjournals.org 7 | Page Attitude of Students towards Ethical and Moral Values in Karachi, Pakistan Dr. Memoona Saeed Lodhi 1 & Dr. Jawaid Ahmed Siddiqui 2 1 Assistant Professor, Hamdard Institute of Education and Social Sciences, Hamdard University Karachi, Pakistan 2 Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hamdard University Karachi, Pakistan Abstract: Education is the most important factor, which trains students towards social practices and moral ethics. It is not only restricted to pursue degree for economic gain, rather attaining moral values. As the social order is changing,children are more engaged in diverse society and extensively interacting with social media. Sound and value based education in this context has become very crucial to prepare youth to live within ethical boundaries.The research aims to find the attitude of school going students towards ethical goodness. Survey methodology is chosen to conduct a research. The population for the study consists of all the students studying at secondary level in Karachi. The sample size of 200 is selected through random sampling from 5private institutions. The instrument used to obtain data was adapted from The Commitment to Ethical Goodness Scale (Narvaez, Bock &Vaydich, 2008).The results show that majority of the respondents are positive on greater part of the items of Ethical Identity Scale. The trend among the respondents for majority of the items in Moral Locus of Control & Ethical Self- Regulation is found to be negative. The results also show that school going children are conscious about their well-being. Attitude of few of the students is uncaring towards teachers and family members. Their liberal decisions are highly influenced by external environment. Majority of the students have uncaring attitude, whereas few are also engaged in unethical activities. Majority of the students follow their own rules. Majority of the students’ value ethics.Around half of the students have not learnt about ethics in school. The results conclude that moral education must be imparted to all the school going children to develop ethical practices. Curriculum Wing of Ministry of Educationmust involve teachers to design a separate course of ethics for students. Keywords:Ethics, Domains, Attitude I. Introduction Theincrease use of technology and cyberspace has become driving tool in shaping the behaviorand social well-being of people. Human are highly mesmerized by the technological revolutions, which has not only improved global interaction, but has also raised unethical practices. There are variousfactors which shape human conduct, which include social relations, friend circle, family environment, culture,etc (Vink, 2012,Triandis&Suh, 2002). In the view of sociologists, norms, values, customs and social interactions greatly influence human conduct (Blumer, 2004). One of the most important aspects of human personality, which persuade human action, is morality. Moral development has its philosophical basis dated back to the Greek philosophers. It studies about human nature in realizing social goodness (Blasi, 2004). Several theories are presented on moral development. Earlier, Kant gave theory based on actions and moral rules. His main focus was on the established rules which one need to follow. This theory was highly criticized and disregarded because of obligations imposed on individuals.Later, Piaget divided cognitive development based on moral development, where he categorized ages for morality. Each level is unique and significant; however, the final stage- operational is the highest level individual can attain. He believed that moral development is a developmental process which is based on cognitive development (Pressley and McCormick, 2007).Kohlberg (1978)hypothesiswas based on the previous theories, which highlights moral reasoning through three levels: Pre-conventional level behaviors, which are directed by society and based on social acceptability, whereas individuals follow the directed instructions and perform tasks due to the fear of punishment. Conventional level is directed by society, where human are obliged to follow rules as per set by society, while Post-Conventional level include social contract. From these theories, it is confirmed that morality is gradually attained through the process of development. Many internal and external factors are involved in influencing moral act.