Currently Browsing: Feature
Teachers identify detrimental effects of cheating
.
Written by Ashley Heywood, Senior Editor
It 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, second-degree 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.”
Roberts claims to have cheated since she was caught but not on anything other than homework. She shows how cheating has affected her relationships with teachers.
“Ever since then it’s never been the same and I never got anymore extra credit. I have cheated since then yes and I’ll copy other people’s homework, which is technically cheating yourself than against a teacher,” Roberts said. “I don’t think a lot of other teachers know that I cheated and this hasn’t affected my relationships with other teachers just Ms. White. Ms. White hasn’t trusted me since then.”
“I don’t want to say I would think less of a student because everyone makes mistakes and we have all have the opportunity to correct and learn from our mistakes but still I can’t believe it happened,” Beckett said. “If I knew someone was a cheater I’d move them closer to me and make sure I always had my eye on the student.”
Although disciplinary actions may not seem severe at the high school level, once at a college or university, the consequences worsen.
“For all colleges it’s something different. It may be you may receive a zero for the course, or you may be suspended form the university,” Gorsuch said. “It could be like at Carolina where you’re sent to a student court. Every university has it’s own system. Some colleges you sign a pledge and violation of the pledge means suspension from the university.”
Email This Post 
Print This Post
Loading ...
Leave a Reply