Youth face the bribe detector test

17 June 2015 - 02:11 By Poppy Louw

Have you ever bought a "cool drink" for a police or traffic officer? Have you ever slipped them a banknote to overlook an infringement? The youth are being put to the test and encouraged to "come clean and stay clean" by undergoing Corruption Watch's bribe detector test.This is part of the organisation's #ComeClean and #MyHandsAreClean campaigns to deter young people from engaging in corrupt activities.Auckland Park student Nirvana Nokwe, 18, said the test made her realise what she had been doing wrong and helped her put things into perspective."A test like this will help [the youth] face the truth about their behaviour," she said.Though there was much curiosity around it yesterday, none of the 16 youngsters who underwent the test was brave enough to have it recorded.Some of the illegal activities participants admitted to included paying bribes, underage drinking and cheating. One youngster even admitted to having been part of a bicycle stealing syndicate.The 15-minute test is carried out by Charles Kemp, a professional polygraphist from the Polygraph Institute of SA.Kemp said participants often seemed to believe that being honest was not "cool", with many of them failing to speak out when their friends and other people did wrong...

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