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One of the tragedies of our system of schooling is that it deflects students from discovering what they truly love and find worth doing for its own sake. Instead, it teaches them that life is a series of hoops that one must get through, by one means or another, and that success lies in others' judgments rather than in real, self-satisfying accomplishments. Read More
Don't forget the influence of
Don't forget the influence of the parents. My parents always told me I needed to get good grades and go to a good college so that I could get a higher paying job.
Parents, but not just parents
DarkAutumn, thanks for this comment. I agree that parental pressure can play a big role. But personality is very much involved as well. Some kids feel the pressure to get high grades even though their parents apply no pressure. See, for example, Jennifer's comment on Part I of this series. Her daughter isn't cheating but she's crying, already in first grade, because of fear that she might get something less than a perfect grade.
-Peter
I agree with you 100 %
I agree with you 100 %
Inertia
A cogent analysis and presentation, as usual.
This article and others may benefit individual students -- and the parents of individual students, especially if they can afford an alternative to conventional schooling. I'm not in any way minimizing the value of that, but it seems there is too much inertia in the present direction of public schools (including vested interests and political realities) to budge it far off its course. Are you more optimistic about the possibility?
Inertia
Richard, I agree with you about the forces against real change in our schools. See my post of August 27, 2008, Why Schools Are What They Are II: Forces Against Fundamental Change. I think change must come, for now, from people leaving standard schools. We already see that happening with the ever-increasing numbers of homeschoolers, unschoolers, Sudbury schools, etc. At some point this will produce a tipping point in the culture, where people begin to demand fundamental reform in public schools.
-Peter
As long as kids are seen as
As long as kids are seen as students and not as people, the problem is going to exist.
I'm sure you didn't intend that to come through in what you've written, but it's very common for adults to view all kids as students.
In everyday chit chat, what is the first question an adult might ask a child? In my experience it's "What grade are you in?" or "What school do you go to?".
It dehumanizes children.
I agree 100% as well.
This was a very accurate synopsis.
Scary, when you think of the BP mess, GM foods, etc.
Schools are going to have to think of some real life consequences to prevent students from cheating. I remember reading about how BP fudged on much of their science, even placing the name of a dead college professor on their plan to prevent oil spills, not updating their disaster websites, etc.
I can also think of an instance on "American Greed" where a pharmacist watered down medicines to get lots of money. Fortunately one doctor noticed a pattern in her patient's symptoms.
The whole GM foods mess also has been bred by ignorance and secrecy. I always read people's opinions that we have always had GM foods since the invention of the farm, though I don't recall ever reading about gene guns and DNA slicing in the 1600's.
how about if a student takes
how about if a student takes all their notes in class and can make a good summery sheet for the test its called using your resources, not cheating! Some math proffessors in collage actually allow this, so why not others?
The colleges and universities
The colleges and universities that have single-sanction or limited-sanction disciplinary systems have more of an upper hand on this than anyone else.
I was one of the 98% cheating
Although I am not proud of it, I was one of the (many) students cheating in high school and college. I never got caught. Even the valedictorian of my high school (of 700 graduating students) was a chronic cheater. I received above average scores, although I would have been an average student had I not relied on cheating. Being average was not an option at my house. I always felt that I was being pressured to be smarter, and unfortunately being 'smart' was somehow better than being 'honest'. The result of the pressure is that students are rewarded for being dishonest which is really very sad. Fortunately, that has not carried on into my adult life. Now that I am free to be myself, I am extremely honest in all aspects of my life, but it took sveral years away from school to undo the habits of lying, cheating and dishonesty.
"where all the kids are above average."
Life on Plane Earth, your statement about being average not being an option applies across the whole culture. Yet, of course, by definition, half of all people will be "below average" on any given measure. As long as we have this system of ranking people on numerical scores (such as grade-point average) we have this problem. We need to get rid of these ranking systems and accept and value people for who they are. We all have so much to contribute, in our own unique ways, that are not captured by school systems' means of ranking. -Peter
nice!
thank you so much for these articles. I love them and it is good to know that others share my perspective on this issue. I totally cheated in order not to fail algebra, so that my parents would allow me to go on the class trip to Germany. It was a super-anxiety producing experience, but I wanted to go on the trip so badly that I was willing(shamefully) to copy homework. It was a great trip, though, and was worth it!
That brings up the reality of the shame attached to cheating, for I am sure that many will resort to it without a sense of power but of utter shame, and carry the burden of a secret that creates a barrier between themselves and those who purport to be their teachers and benefactors.
Funny, how natural cheating is in academia
I still remember when I was a freshman in college. I figured I'd make a couple extra bucks by typing papers for other students (charging $15 per page), back when I was one of the few kids on campus with a computer of his own. Somehow, after the first couple papers, I got a reputation for helping kids polish their papers, and was offered more and more money, and the students sat by my side as we worked together on their papers. It reached a high point when I started getting $200 for a five page paper, being handed only the book and assignment . . . One (English literature) class, I wrote three of the papers -- two got A+, but I was proudest of the C (my own paper) in which I took the grad student to task for writing an irrelevant question.
The reward and punishment model
Clearly, being punished for bad work and rewarded for good work has something to do with cheating. Whether it's good grades and the need for approval, or a desperate need for a job, everyone wants to land the reward and avoid "punishment." But it's too facile to blab on about avoiding the reward and punishment model.
The fact is that we all want to believe that doing good work SHOULD be rewarded. And why shouldn't it?! Doesn't good work deserve recognition and some kind of appreciated and/or needed positive consequence? But then, the minute you have a reward in sight there is also the dark shadow of NOT being rewarded, being deprived, which feels like punishment. Cheating is such a convenient way of avoiding this pain. And how can we blame people for this?!
It's complicated!
Rewards and punishments
Clara, thanks for this insightful comment. Yes, it is complicated. I think the real problem with rewards and punishments for learning is that they undermine the intrinsic value of learning. We all come into the world driven to learn. Look how much little children learn on their own, before anyone ever starts to "grade" them on it. They learn to walk, run, jump, climb. They learn their whole native language. They learn an enormous amount about the physical and social world around them. All of this has its own intrinsic rewards. The intrinsic rewards for learning don't stop at age 5 or 6; we make them stop because we start using these extrinsic rewards that turn learning into work. With intrinsic rewards there can be no such thing as cheating. With extrinsic rewards the motivation to cheat becomes enormous, especially when one sees that the steps that one must take to receive the extrinsic rewards are so often silly and have nothing to do with real learning. -Peter
Extrinsic rewards
I totally agree with you Peter that learning can and must have its intrinsic rewards. What I'm grappling with is at what point good work should be rewarded. After official learning years? That doesn't sound right! Should we even draw a definitive line between "learning" and "work," and reward the latter but not the former? This doesn't sound right either! It really is a puzzle to me.
Learning and work
Clara, I think there is a line here, though I'm not sure how definitive it is. "Work," almost by definition, is something you do for some extrinsic reward. "Play," almost by definition, is something you do for its own sake. Schools put learning into the category of "work," something you wouldn't do were it not for the reward. My argument is that it belongs in the category of play.
-Peter
Work and play
Very interesting defnition of work: that which is done for extrinsic reward! Freud would not agree, the purpose of life being "to love and to work"!!! But I really like your definition Peter. I'm going to give it some thought.
On a ridiculous note, when my son was in a Montessori preschool the first thing all children had to do every morning was to take their "work" and go sit at their table and do their "work." We didn't last there very long!
On a funnier note, I saw this cartoon in the New Yorker a while ago: A little boy in a suit and briefcase ringing a doorbell, asking, "Can Johnny come out to work?" Good one!
You have to fight when flight is not an option
I am wondering if you read the October 1 article on the Inside Higher Ed site, "Conscientious Objector to Testing," regarding a student who is refusing to prepare for and take the SAT. Not so much for the article itself, but for the responses to the article. Our society seems to be so brain-washed about the need for testing and puts so much faith in it, and yet your article and many of the comments in response to it make clear that it is such a flawed system. Children are continuously being thrown into stressful situations where they are told they must pass. Stress encourages a fight or flight response, and since flight is not an option in the forced school environment, the student's method of fighting is to cheat.
Conscientious objector
Cristina, wouldn't it be nice if all of the teachers who say that they are against the high-pressure tests the state requires them to give would simply stop giving them? The majority of teachers seem to be against the tests. If they would all band together and conscientiously object together, it would be hard to fire them. Where is the courage of teachers? Why aren't teachers' unions taking a conscientious stand?
-Peter
Or students! This should be
Or students! This should be shared around: http://bartlebyproject.com/
I imagine teachers could participate in such a project!
Ethical Dilemma for a Tutor...
Your post is very timely for me. I am a tutor, and I recently discovered one of my students (8th grade math) has been cheating. I knew something was up because he has no idea what he's doing when he's with me but then somehow gets 85 or better on tests. If he keeps doing well, he's allowed to stay in the "honors" class, if not he has to drop down a level and he is dreading doing that. It is sad because he feels like he has to cheat so he can say in the higher level to impress his parents, live up to his older brother's high standards, etc.
I confronted him last week (quietly) and told him that I don't really care if he is cheating, but he would get in a lot of trouble if he gets caught. He admitted that he was doing it. I am not a fan of school, and I am not planning on sending my kids, and I completely understand why he is cheating. Meanwhile though, what should I do? I don't want his parents to find out, and then confront me about whether I knew about it. I also don't want him to get in trouble, because as understanding as I am, I know others won't be.
The situation is extra-hairy because the family is friends with my family. I really don't know what to do. But I find it terribly sad that this is what the poor kid feels he has to do to keep up. And he is figuring out that this is working for him now, so what's to stop him from continuing, even as the stakes get higher??
Help!
Dilemma
Dear Tutor,
The key problem here is the one you identify in your last sentence: "And he is figuring out that this is working for him now, so what's to stop him from continuing, even as the stakes get higher??" That's a serious problem, and if you care about this kid, it's important to help him solve it.
Here's my suggestion. Sit down with him for a heart to heart talk. Tell him that you were mistaken to say you didn't care if he was cheating, that, in fact, you do care because you care about him. Cheating, and the implicit and often explicit lying that accompanies it, is never a good idea. Explain how cheating leads to more cheating. Tell him that you know he has a conscience and that as this goes along he is not going to feel good about himself. You might even tell him the story I told in my previous post. Then I would suggest two possible courses of action:
(1) The heroic course (the one I would recommend if he feels he can do it) is for him to sit down and have a serious talk with his parents. He shouldn't just casually approach them. He should say to them: "Mom and Dad, I have something I really need to talk with both of you about." He should make an appointment with them, for a time when they can listen to him and hear him out and not just respond immediately. If he thinks it would be helpful to have you present, you might join the conversation; but I think, most likely, it would be better for him to do this himself, so his parents see the motivation as coming from him, not you. He should explain to his parents what he was doing and why he was doing it. His explanation should include the fact that he was doing this at least partly if not mostly to avoid disappointing them. He should then say that it is more important to him to be honest than it is to get into the best possible college. If his parents are decent people, they will respect that. From there--with, let's hope, his parents' blessings--he has two choices: He can work hard to really learn the math and stay in the honors class, or he can drop out into the regular math class.
(2) If he feels he can't talk honestly to his parents, then the alternative path would be for him to really learn the math so that from now on he doesn't need to cheat to stay in the class. You might convince him that it's not really that hard, that he can do it, but that he's going to have to really listen to you, work hard, take some practice tests with you (so you know he really understands it), etc.
If I were you, I would not be willing to work with him if he is going to continue cheating. In a certain sense if you do, you are cheating too. You are getting paid for helping him in math, knowing that you really aren't helping him in math, but rather are just pretending to while he passes by cheating. If you can get him off the path of cheating, you will be a wonderful tutor.
One other thing you might do, to help his parents accept the idea that their son might not go to the college they want him to go to, is to point out to them (through your family connection or through the boy) the evidence that, in the long run, other things being equal, it doesn't matter what college you go to. When you match for family background, ability, etc., kids who go to less prestigious colleges do just as well in life--even as measured by income-- as those who go to more prestigious colleges. -- See my post of Oct. 22, 2008, "Reasons to select a less expensive, less selective college..."
Best wishes and good luck,
Peter
Update
First, I would like to say thank you for your thoughtful response to my problem. I was at a loss. I would love to say that I saved my student since I last commented, but unfortunately the student has been avoiding me ever since the night we had our first conversation about the issue. He has not asked his parents to have me help him, and even when I go to the house to help his brother, he is nowhere to be seen. It's too bad. I was hoping to be the one person he could trust, but clearly he is so afraid of being caught or having to stop what he is doing (that is working just fine for him, I'm sure he thinks), that he wants nothing to do with me anymore.
Also, the last time I was over at the house, I heard some things that were pretty discouraging, as far as the idea of this kid EVER being able to come clean to his parents. I didn't realize how strict the father is. He usually is not home when I am there, but this time he was. He was speaking very harshly to the younger brother (the one who is cheating), while I was working in another room with the older brother. He was saying things like "watch your mouth" and forcing him to eat his dinner, even though the child (who is 13) was saying he was not hungry. I am pretty sure that there is no way this kid is going to tell this father what has been going on. The sad part is, if the kid gets caught cheating, I can only imagine how bad things would get for him. If I ever have another chance to talk to him alone, I will do my best. For now though, it looks like I have been squeezed out of the equation, now that I look like someone who will only get in the way of his method.
:(
Thanks for the update
Thanks for this update. How sad. It's an example of how parents and schools can unwittingly conspire to create cheaters. -Peter
As a senior in high school,
As a senior in high school, I'm offended by your claim that the best students are cheating. I consider myself to be a successful student, having taken numerous college courses during my high school year, straight A student, have 12 Advanced Placement exams all at full score, and am pretty confident of getting in the top Ivy league colleges.
But I, and neither have any of my close friends who are also very successful, never felt the need to cheat in order to gain the edge. We are more successful because we are more motivated and work harder.
I would contend that most students who cheat aren't actually "successful." Yes, they'll have high grades, but that won't get you squat in the competitive colleges. They're caught up in the notion that high grades and being well-rounded in many subjects will shoo you in a good college. False. The most successful students are those who have definite interest and passion in something, not necessarily loving everything they learn.
Those who cheat are similar to those who are afraid of taking advanced classes because of fear of getting low grades. This usually show up in your college application as having no passion in learning, hence that student will probably end up somewhere mediocre.
Why should you feel offended?
Zuney, I don't understand why you feel offended. I wasn't talking about you or your friends. I was relaying the general conclusions from anonymous questionnaires conducted of broad samples of students (see Note 1). If you have resisted the urge to cheat, to which so many have succumbed, you should feel proud. I wish you the best. -Peter
I know you weren't. But the
I know you weren't. But the post seem to suggest that all those who succeed cheated their way to the top. I don't think the survey captures the entire picture. 98% admitted cheating, but how frequent? Was it a one time deal? I doubt many are frequent cheaters anyways. In 12 years of public, statistically everyone is bound to cheat at least once or twice, but that in no means should devalue their success of their entire education. This is synonymous to every adult has probably cheated on a part of his/her taxes at some point in life.
As for the data on moral judgement of these "cheaters", it's not surprising. You said it the best: there's little difference between memorizing terms in your head and writing it on a piece of paper. So why should a student feel immoral for having done that?
In sum, most students who reach the top don't get there by cheating, anymore than politicians reach the top by lying.
I am sad to admit that I was
I am sad to admit that I was one of the "top students" and a "chronic cheater" in high school. I also experienced teachers ignoring obvious cheating. I should have been caught many times, but wasn't. I think I subconsciously wanted to be caught. I was and still am ashamed of my behavior, yet proud of my grades! My son is in a Sudbury school, so I hope to avoid those issues with him. I wonder about our society as a whole, carrying the shame of cheating. There must be ramifications that last into adulthood.
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