You know what I find to be the most awful form of immorality and irresponsibility? Cheating. Especially when students cheat. I never took an honors or an AP class until my Junior year, and I was actually surprised by the huge increase of cheating from a prep class to an AP class. At first, I thought it would stop after a while. But it never did - students would cheat on every exam, every assignment, every little piece of work. It started to really bother me, and lately, as college acceptances come, it's started to always be on my mind. As senior year slows down for the students, it speeds up for the teachers and now as we are probably the least motivated, we have the most work. I think this year I have seen more cheating than ever, and it bothers me. These thoughts lurk in the back of my conscience at every moment of the day. They hide in the shadows, though, because I cannot always decide what I should do about cheating and how I ought to react to certain situations.
Now, I am not going to pretend like I've never copied someone elses' answers for a problem or whispered to my friend during a French test. I think we all have. But, for me, cheating has been increasingly rare since I started high school. What really irks me is those kids who cheat every single day, the ones who never study and get A's off of someone ele's brain. What has wounded me more than anything, though, is that so many of these students have gotten into fantastic colleges. I have been almost completely honest throughout high school when I didn't do something. I take the failing grade on an assignment when I deserve it - because I need to be responsible for my own work. So, when someone gets into Stanford or UCI or USC and I have watched them cheat their way through school, it's kind of painful for me to watch. Then these students ridicule others and brag about how they got into great schools and they did it through others' work. Am I the only one that sees this as a problem?
Mr. Dhennin, the French teacher at our school, has told me many times that these kids will get their punishment for it once they get to college or go into the working world. I can't guarantee that, though, and Monsieur's promise of this has not fully reassured me. Philosophically and morally, I am entirely opposed to cheating on anything at all. If they cheat now, I hope for them that they learn to do things the right way. As a student, I have been told indirectly that you don't "rat other people out" for cheating. Thus, I never have. Nevetheless, when kids in Chemistry steal Mrs. Haus' stamp so that they can give themselves 100% on every homework assignment and get an A and when students constantly copy each others' math homework or when someone copies their test answers for a friend that was absent, I start to become annoyed. Most people my age think there's no reason for these feelings of exasperation towards cheaters, but I'd like to thing that some people will change their minds.
I believe that if one holds themselves morally accountable, they should not cheat. Getting A from someone else's work or through dishonest means is no accomplishment. I feel like we learn more when we actually fail. Some students would definitely try harder if they refused to cheat. I know that I have, and I will continue to. I hope that people learn to hold themselves responsible and culpable for their grades and actions. It's not cool that you cheat and get away with it, even if you got into a good school. Maybe I'm one of few teenagers that feels this way, but I am definitely going to stick with it.
Melanie,
ReplyDeleteYou aren't the only one who feels this way. There are many students who feel the same and are discouraged by the lack of personal integrity they see in their peers. I hate that our most capable students don't have enough confidence or fortitude to do their own work. We have made failure such a non-option with high stakes testing and ultra-competitive college admissions that I see why some students resort to this. But, I think many more do it as a result of a sense of entitlement and a lack of respect for themselves and others.Do you think there are any steps teachers or staff could take to impact this situation?
Mrs. Elliott, I completely agree with you and I think that, unfortunately, as things get more competitive due to our poor economy, cheating will probably increase.
ReplyDeleteI think that a good way to combat cheating is to avoid multiple choice exams (such as the high stakes testing) and to introduce more interactive or personal assignments (such as projects and writing assignments) that make it much more difficult for students to cheat. Many teachers, particularly the English department at our school, have already started doing a lot of things similar to these. However, I know this is impossible in some classes, and just plain hard for some teachers to do.
In those cases, I feel like teachers should take a more active role in surveying their students' actions and what causes them to cheat/what they cheat on and try to both discourage cheating more (because I have had many teachers, not all of course, and not necessarily a majority, that do not care about cheaters very much) and find solutions for the cheating specifically occurring in their classroom.
- Melanie N.
I agree with you Melanie. Although I can't say that I've never cheated, it is really annoying when I study really hard for something just to have the people sitting next to me who didn't study AT ALL, get their answers off me. I feel like integrity is absent in our society, and it's gotten so distant from our characters that we don't realize the problem that we have. As I have progressed through high school, I have realized the importance of academic honesty, not just for my own conscience, but for my future as well. I don't want to cheat my way through high school and suffer the consequences in college. I don't think anyone would want to risk getting kicked out of college for academic dishonesty. I have to admit it was hard for me to hear about all these students getting into the colleges that I've been rejected to, just because they have mooched off someone else's brain. But just as Monsieur Dhennin said, those people will probably be punished in college. But more than that, I want people to be willing to do their own assignments and WANT to be honest and keep their integrity. Because let's face it, unless people are really willing to protect their character and keep to their morals, cheating will never stop.
ReplyDeleteMelanie, I absolutely LOVE this post! I'm pretty sure we've talked about this in government, but I wanted to comment on here too. I feel like those students who refuse to do any of their own work are missing out on a lot of the growth that occurs in high school. The work we put into school shapes us into our adult selves, and a lot of the assignment we've done, especially in English this year, have really helped me grow and understand myself and what I want out of life. I try to comfort myself that even though these students may be getting into better schools, I at least have my integrity and will be more successful when we leave for college in the fall. Maybe some steps can be taken to reduce cheating, but those who want to cheat will. They put more effort into cheating than it would take to study, so I think it would take a lot to stop it.
ReplyDelete-Elise P.
I came across this post right after a discussion of cheating. I think that unfortunately, it's not going to change. Kids are just going cheat whether others like it or not. I also agree that though it is hard to see the negative results from their cheating, that one day their behavior may be the thing that ends their college career. Maybe. Or maybe they will get their act together. Either way, this fall we are all off to college where cheating won't necessarily be gone, but maybe the consequences will be seen.
ReplyDelete-Emily S.
Melanie, everything you said on here is so true. Although I also can't say I haven't copied a few answers before, and I'm usually too nice or oblivious to rat people out when I see people cheating on me during a test. However I agree with your French teacher that these students will get their come-uppings in college or the professional world at the latest. I also think that to a degree, cheating is understandable due to the competitive nature in schools now, as Mrs. Elliott said, but when one goes out of their way to steal a test or teacher's stamp than that's just ridiculous. I don't believe that cheating is something that can ever be stopped because it is so part of certain people but these people will still suffer in the long run.
ReplyDelete-Bobby R