feature 8
wingspan • march 30, 2012
Students express reasons for cheating
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NATALIE RICE editor-in-chief
t was her freshman science class, and senior Allie Gordon, a student who asked the Wingspan staff to change her name, realized she hadn’t studied for her test that day. She frantically wrote what answers she could fit on her hand before class. After completing the test, she went to the front of the class to hand it in, and the teacher noticed the writing on her hand. “I got a zero for the test, so my grade suffered, and I got a C, which is the worst grade on my transcript. I won’t cheat because I’m petrified of that happening again, and I know most teachers do give zeros for cheating. I don’t need another bad grade.” Statistics show that the amount of cheating going on in high schools is on the rise, and teachers are struggling to find ways to stop it. According to nocheating.org, about 20 I’ve never been percent of college students from the 1940s admitted that caught, but if I they cheated in high school, were caught, I but today between 75 and 98 would just cheat percent of college students surveyed each year report that smarter next time. they cheat. I would take what Cheating includes a I learned, realize variety of behaviors, including using notes or classmates’ what I did wrong answers on a test, copying and do it better. homework, plagiarizing a paper or tampering with previANONYMOUS ously taken tests or grades. junior “I’ve written information on a flashcard for tests and put it in my lap and copied the answers, I’ve looked at other kids’ papers, I’ve written stuff on my hand before, and sometimes I write stuff on my desk before the test. I’ve taken pictures with my iPod before and looked at it during a test,” junior Samantha Andrews, another student who asked that her name be changed, said. There are multiple reasons students cheat. These reasons include parental pressure to make good grades, peer pressure, a
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rigorous course load and fears about college admissions. To high school students, colleges admissions committees and scholarship committees, grade point average and class rank have become increasingly important. The goal for many highachieving students is to make the top 15 or honor block, for their class, so they pack their schedules with advanced placement and honors courses. “I cheat because I don’t know the answer, and I need to get a good grade. Good grades will get me into college and also get me money for college. It’s not all about class rank for me. I don’t want to be number 230, but I don’t care about being number one exactly,” senior John Seymore, who asked for his real identity to be withheld, said. But not all high school students cheat to achieve high grade point averages. There are also those who cheat to get by in classes with minimal effort. “I cheat because I don’t have time to do homework at home, and I have brain farts on tests and can’t remember the answers,” Andrews said. “So sometimes it’s because I don’t have time, but sometimes I’m just too lazy to do it. I feel guilty when I cheat, but I feel like I have to in order to pass my classes. I know it’s the wrong thing to do and it’s a sin.” Students sometimes report that there are parents who advise students to cheat because they are facing the high costs of college. Parents can stress good grades, even though they either consciously or subconciously know cheating may be involved. Some students find it unfair that while they are doing the work, others are cheating off of them and receiving the same grade for less effort. Some, on the other hand do not care. “I don’t care if people cheat off my paper. If they just forgot to do their work, then I can understand. Or if they just don’t ever do it like some people, I don’t care. It’s not hurting me at all,” Seymore said. The risks of being caught may deter some from cheating, but in other situations students look for more creative ways to cheat. “I can get away with cheating, so I don’t really worry about the consequences,” Andrews said. “It is easier for me to cheat than it would be to study. I’ve never been caught, but if I were caught, I would just cheat smarter next time. I would take what I learned, realize what I did wrong and do it better.”
What is cheating? “Cheating is when you copy off of someone’s paper and get a grade that you don’t deserve. Copying off of someone’s homework or not studying for a quiz, but still Kaleigh Kelley getting a 100. Cheating sophomore is getting something that you don’t deserve.”
“I’d say cheating is like looking off other people’s papers just like that. I don’t really know how to explain it. I mean, if you do it, it’s terrible. There’s not really a way to stop Turner Warncke it either. It’s probably about the same to cheat junior on homework as it is on tests. Homework I actually think is worse because if you cheat on your homework, you don’t know anything on the test.” “I think cheating is bad and everything. It may be good for homework, but it doesn’t really do anything for tests and quizzes because if you don’t know it for homework you don’t know it Brittany Fairbairn for quizzes. It’ll get you a senior good homework grade, but homework doesn’t usually count much toward your overall grade.”
Teachers identify detrimental effects of cheating
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ASHLEY HEYWOOD senior editor
t started with a rumor; some students were paying other, better prepared students to take the SAT for them. It was fleeting whisper in a hallway that was caught by the wrong ears that led to tracking down students, investigating grades and a formal prosecution for nearly 40 high school students across three high schools. These students are now being faced with criminal charges for trying to take the easy way out. Nine students accused of paying someone to take the SAT and four people accused of taking the test are being arrested in the ongoing case that has affected Long Island. These students made a decision to cheat on a national test in order to achieve the success they desired. Not only did these students pay an upwards of $3,000 to a different test-taker, they now are faced with first-degree scheme to defraud, seconddegree falsifying business records and second-degree criminal impersonation. As a sophomore, junior Amanda Roberts, who asked the Wingspan staff to change her name to protect her identity, was caught cheating by her teacher during a quiz in Earth and Environmental Sciences. She explained the process of the discipline she received. “We went to the teacher conference room, and she set me down and told me how disappointed she was in me. She said I needed to call my parents and let them know what I did. So I called my dad, and I was just very blunt about the fact that I just cheated on a test and got caught,” Roberts said. “Then she told my dad how disappointed she was in me and that this was not OK and that I wasn’t up for any more extra credit opportunities and that I had a zero on the quiz.” The most evident effect of cheating is punishment for the first offense listed in the student handbook: “Cheating with regard to course assignments will result in a zero for the assignment.” For first offense of cheating/plagiarism, one day of ISS may be given. Spanish teacher Anne Beckett explained her punishments if she catches a student cheating. “What I used to do was just give them a zero,” Beckett said. “Now if I catch them cheating I give them a choice. They can either take a zero for the assignment or they can get a chance to retake the assignment after I call their parents and explain that I caught them cheating. It would be a different quiz or test, and it is usually harder.” If a student gets caught cheating, more than just disciplinary actions can occur. Students may not realize how the weight of cheating carries in the college application process or with required teacher recommendations. “Maybe nothing would happen to their reputation, but teachers talk. Teachers tell one another, and they could get a reputation among the faculty,” Gorsuch said. “I wouldn’t write a letter of recommendation for any student I had caught cheating.”
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