Truth to the student the most important thing

The most important thing that I have learned about my students in the past year is that they need to be spoken the truth to in a kind and positive way. I have been in public school now for three years and it is common for the student to lie, cheat, manipulate, degrade and a host of negative attributes. And, I am in a conservative school ! I believe that this generation's mind has been formed by the very subject that I teach.... technology ! They soak in so much information from television, music, websites and radio, that there is a lot of information to sort through. When the opportunity presents itself, I boldly but kindly tell them my opinion. For example, if they do not respond to a directive, I mention that if they heard me but are ignoring me, then they are choosing to ignore authority. Then I tell them that in the real world after high school, they will not keep a job if they ignore authority. Most of the time, the student pauses to think AND they say, "I am sorry Mrs. K". I feel (even with my own children) that we as adults are so busy trying to make a living, that we miss opportunities to speak the truth of integrity to our students. It is my opinion that in education teachers ARE shouting instructions, but how about shouting some "food for thought" to these future adults.