Not that either one is an acceptable thing to do, but the following situation presented itself yesterday and I am having a difficult time deciding which it is.
Yesterday, after receiving current progress reports, a young man in my last hour class presented me with a completed and graded major writing assignment and said, "Miss G, you forgot to record my 30 points for my writing assignment." I looked at it, looked at him, and said, "That is not yours. You just erased someone else's name and wrote yours over it." It was pretty obvious: The pencil was darker and there were parts of the other name still visible despite erasing.
It went on. "No, Miss G, this is mine. You forgot it. You gave this back to me yesterday and forgot to record mine. And it shows on my progress report that I didn't do it. And I did. It is right here." I shook my head and told him no yet again and said, "I can tell you erased someone else's name and wrote yours on. I won't accept it." I even gave him the name of the kid whose paper it likely had been since the student in front of me told me I should check with that other student of mine the other day to verify that the student in front of me had done and does do notes on short stories. He emphatically said, "No, it isn't [that kid's] work. It's mine." He remained insistent that I take the assignment a few more minutes until finally sitting down. But I could hear him right behind me complaining to his friend that I wouldn't take "his" paper.
So I turned around and told him, "Fine. I'll take it and think about it. But I don't want to hear any more about it." His response, " ... ... ... . " I put it directly in my bag and put the bag under the desk. His non-response said volumes, really.
Once class, and therefore school, was over, I compared handwriting. Unwittingly, he had just given me a new sample via a comprehension quiz they had just taken, as had my other classes. So I pulled his out and the kid whose paper I thought it was, and amazingly, his didn't match... but the kid whose paper I thought it was was a definite match. I asked some other teachers as they walked by. They agreed.
I made copies of all three papers on the copier and made a copy of the page in the student handbook where it talks about plagiarism and cheating, and wrote up a discipline referal. When I saw the associate principal and gave her the run down, her response was so disheartening, "Call the parents and tell them and him that if it happens again, disciplinary action will be taken." Oh, and I could still give the student a zero on it. Thanks for small favors.
I called the young man's home. His father answered. I explained the reason for my call. He said to me, in a thick eastern European accent, "This is a very serious matter. Here is my wife's cell phone number. Please call her. She is a teacher too." Putting the receiver down and getting ready to make the next call, I thought to myself that this young man is in big trouble.
His mother was shocked, embarrassed, and sad. She told me he was going to have dire consequences, including no Halloween party this weekend. By her request, she, her son, and I are meeting tomorrow after school. I was ever so glad she understood. She asked if I had already told him I knew with certainty about the handwriting samples, and I had not, so she was greatful to be able to ask him, "So, what happened in last hour today, son?" The nice mom sneak attack.
From the other teachers I talked with, cheating/plagiarism is rampant at this high school. In the junior high I had caught a few kids copying research info from the Internet and turned them in. They each got three days suspension and F's on the research reports. Apparently, things are not like that at the high school. Other high schools in the district are, though, as one teacher who was at a different high school informed me. And she was sad to hear the response from this administrative office.
It may be small consolation to know that plagiarism is a big problem in the colleges and universities as well. At my college we take it very seriously. You can see our policy on plagiarism and cheating at http://www.capcollege.bc.ca/about/policies/college-policies/cheating.xhtml
It's worth reflecting that post-secondary has to take plagiarism seriously because high schools don't.
Posted by: Crawford Kilian | Wednesday, October 29, 2003 at 03:36 PM
That policy is thorough. I'm impressed. I imagine this would only fall into the 5.6.1 portion (a record of the incident being kept on file). It is a shame that it has fallen into seemingly acceptable practice in high school, which then results in colleges and universities needing to be much more strict about it. Although, there are many things that high schools have seemingly stopped doing which then college and university professors must clean up, such as poor study skills, poor writing skills, and poor social skills. But that would be a whole other topic for another day.
Posted by: Butterfly Gemini | Wednesday, October 29, 2003 at 04:02 PM
I hate plagiarism and cheating. If you didn't do something, be honest and take the zero like a man or a woman. Don't try to pass off someone else's work like it is your own!
On the bright side, it sounds like the boy's parents were very supportive. I have called parents over cheating issues and gotten a positive response; I have also spoken to parents who gave lip service to honesty, but didn't sound like they really took it seriously. When you read articles about the number of kids at all levels of education who admit to having cheated, you realize many of your kids' parents were cheaters when they were in school. So it is tough to get them to support a high standard of honesty in their children.
Posted by: ms. frizzle | Wednesday, October 29, 2003 at 06:17 PM
Actually, colleges take plagiarism seriously because it's serious, not because of what high schools do or don't do. It's just more of a shock to the offenders when we catch them.
Posted by: Michael | Friday, October 31, 2003 at 08:09 AM
At my school, we also have a problem with plaigarism but we've found that it is not so much cheating as it is a lack of understanding that sources need to be cited, whether you find them on the internet or in a book. Accordingly, we have begun to stress the skill of incorporating quotes and citations into papers.
Posted by: Nancy | Monday, November 03, 2003 at 07:28 PM
I was teaching at a high school a few years ago and caught the same kid for the third time. I wrote the mom a note (since she was very hostile previously.) You see, according to her, ALL the kids ALWAYS cheated, and I was just out to get her son. She never even tried to claim that the kid wasn't cheating. The administration did nothing. They actually TRANSFERRED her to my phone DURING CLASS, because she was too irrate for them to deal with. I resigned at the end of the year.
Posted by: Teach2 | Wednesday, November 19, 2003 at 07:19 PM
I love cheating.
Posted by: [email protected] | Tuesday, December 02, 2003 at 07:45 AM
Dear colleagues:
Two more chapters from my book on strengthening the characters of boys, "The Men They Will Become," are now available for reading on the Internet:
http://www.elinewberger.com/honesty.html
http://www.elinewberger.com/cheating.html
The gist of my argument is that both honesty and cheating have to do with trust. But mostly we parents and teachers, despite our best intentions, fail to promote the former and to discourage the latter. This is because of our ignorance of children's deepest strivings for connection and their basic human rights, similar to those that we have encoded into our constitutional protections and legal principles. Too often, I suggest, we neglect these at home and in school, with unfortunate consequences.
In the honesty chapter I try to demonstrate that
"honesty is a complex and subtle subject, not so much an end in itself as a means of being responsible and respectful to the needs of others and of oneself. When honesty is at issue, there is usually something about the situation that makes being honest an act of courage. It isn't easy to be honest. Often the easy way is some version of dishonesty, which is why the dishonest way is so frequently taken.
"Honesty is a principal ingredient in any establishment of trust. One person can't trust another deeply without believing that the interaction between them will be carried on at a high level of honesty. Trustful relations can bear the occasional white lie to be sensitive to the feelings of others, but not habitual dishonesty. Beyond the damage it does in specific situations, the reason we all are anxious about dishonesty is that it erodes trust. What misrepresentation of the truth will the person who is known to have been dishonest next put forth? When? For what motive?"
In the chapter on cheating, I close with the following observation:
"The great leap in trust possible in adolescence or later adulthood is for an individual to become trustworthy individually—even when it is not reciprocated. Trust has to be reciprocal in infancy or the infant develops basic mistrust. In childhood, trust is still basically reciprocal in the service of many ends of varying value. But an individual can decide to strive for general trustworthiness. Such an individual would choose not to cheat in financial matters, taxes, or professional responsibilities because he couldn't do so without breaking trust with someone, maybe someone he doesn't even know.
"I believe males get to this highest level of trustworthiness only when they are inspired to it by encountering someone who embodies it. It is a level of character that is much more effectively caught than taught."
If you find these writings to be useful, please don't hesitate to copy, distribute, refer, or link to them. Other chapters on my web site address the following themes of male development: Discipline and Punishment, Self-Control, Teasing and Bullying, Early Adolescence, Late Adolescence, and Play and Sports.
With kind regards,
Eli H. Newberger, M.D., Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
Posted by: Eli Newberger | Tuesday, December 02, 2003 at 01:50 PM
nice site haha i can make a better one than this
this is pretty sad.
Posted by: Im disappointed | Friday, December 05, 2003 at 03:05 PM
school sucks any way so i don't know why they make us go thru with it plus cheating rules
Posted by: u suck | Thursday, December 18, 2003 at 08:01 PM
yeah, you guys are pretty damn sad. oh no, students are cheating, like it doesnt happen more then people dying in car accidents and i dont see your feelings put out on those message boards you crazy ass teachers!
Posted by: Your Mom | Thursday, January 08, 2004 at 07:38 PM
No wonder kids my age don't neccesarily get any respect from teachers or auhtority figures. Look at these comments above, obviously from ignorant immature children who couldn't get an A and pass a class even if they did cheat! Thank you for represnting us with dignity.....
Posted by: embarrassedtobeateen | Thursday, January 22, 2004 at 09:01 AM
Teaching high school I have also had to deal with an administration that did not take cheating seriously (I'm now at a different school). I was also frustrated when I caught kids cheating and they thought it was no big deal. Now when I catch a kid cheating I always call the parents--and every time I have the parents have been embarassed and apologetic. I think the kids get more punishment at home for this than they would at school. Also this offers the students a chance to see what their parents think about cheating--which is usually that they think it is much more serious than the teenager thinks it is.
Posted by: ann | Thursday, January 29, 2004 at 07:16 PM
why cheat?
Posted by: emma | Friday, January 30, 2004 at 01:55 PM
Ill tell you one thing people are just down right terrible cheating all the time. i dont know if you all know this but cheating is a sin. did Jesus cheat??? no why can't we all just be perfect come on guys just dont cheat it's that easy.
P.S. i can't believe yall take the time to read this crap and then actually post it's classic
Posted by: jim | Thursday, March 25, 2004 at 01:00 PM
I make 100's of dollars of writer term papers for friends all around my area. If i dont copyright it i dont see the problem if they turned it in as thier name. Its like anything else people do in the business world. U may buy a design of a house and resell it. U didnt design it, and ur not going to tell the buyers who did incase of lost business so u clam it as urs.
Posted by: Cheating God | Saturday, April 24, 2004 at 10:23 PM
I'm honestly appalled at the lack of moral integrity reflected in some of the posts here. Which seems to be from the same kind of immature, selfish, dishonest, and just plan rude teens my husband & I are trying to keep our children from becoming! I'm not surprised, and I'm not in denial. I know a lot of young people these days have the same attitude. I'm just really appalled/disappointed (and maybe that's their objective- the shock value, which they enjoy causing) that they would take the time and make the effort to post such rude statements on a website that from what I can tell is meant to be informative & supportive regarding education. Guess they don't have anything more productive or interesting to do with their time. Which is pretty sad, when you think about it. Do you think they realize how sad they (their lives and future prospects) are? Hmm...
Posted by: melinda | Saturday, November 06, 2004 at 01:02 PM
I'm a teen, and recently I'm researching on a debate topic... CHEATING. I watched a DVD about kids cheating. I thought it was disappointing how some kids cheat so they could get better grades. It wasn't like they couldn't do that, they were beyond taking someone's homework and copying it...they were smarter than that. I should probably tell you that in my school, everyone is very bright, everyone is smart and know more than cheating and "DOH I DON'T KNOW."s. Its really unfair to those people who actually work and study so they can actually get true good grades. I know that some people cheat because they feel insecure and that they aren't as good as someone sitting next to them. But that does't give them a reason to actually cheat. Its like cheating on your boyfriend or girlfriend. It hurts just as much.
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