In a study released earlier this week in the New York Times, students at Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan - New York's most elite public high school, discussed the "how's and why's" of cheating in the school's highly competitive academic environment.
How: Students identified that their methods of cheating went from creating a classic "cheat sheet", to a code of tapping the on the desks, to sharing answers via text. Other students identified that often they would share test questions with friends who will be taking the same text or quiz later in the day... to some of the students this didn't really amount to cheating... the school would disagree as is evident in the school's honor code. Why: The importance of academic achievement is constantly drilled into students at Stuyvesant and some of the kids said that in order to achieve the grades demanded by faculty and parents... it is the only way. They claim that morality and ethics have very little to do with reality; they would rather cheat and get an 'A' then study for a few hours and get only a 'B'... Other students claim that the punishment for cheating is relatively light so there is not much risk... even when getting caught. Well meaning teachers often do not turn students in for fear that their scholarships and college acceptance would be in jeopardy... the response of the student is to abuse the leniency of the faculty by cheating more. The administration is now seeking to make examples of offenders an enforce the school's honor code. Teacher are being instructed to turn any and all cheaters into the administration or face their own professional punishments...
Nicole Morales Period 6
9/27/2012 11:00:57 pm
It is not suprising to me to hear that students go to these measures to cheat and get A's on tests. There is a lot of pressure that students feel in getting a good grade because the feel that their future depends on it. Cheating is not okay and even though people take measures to prevent it, it will still happen in schools worldwide. I have never seen anything like the tapping thing happen before. This seems very extreme. In my opinion, I would rather study and know the material myself then rely on someone else who could very well have the wrong answer. Cheat sheets don't help in life in the real world, and if you rely on someone to do things that are hard for you in school, you could end up relying on other people for the rest of your life. It is also not as much satisfaction when you know that you cheated. The feeling of earning the grade is by far better because you have accomplished something for yourself.
Daniel Pietrantonio
9/28/2012 04:31:44 am
I am shocked to see that some students try that hard just to cheat. But these students must be under a lot of pressure because there school is the most elite high school in New York and they probably wouldn't want to be the kids who fail and ruin there schools reputation. But now that people know the students in this school were cheating that is ruining the schools reputation instead. So the students should learn there leason and instead of trying to cheat they should just study.
Alyssa Ford period 5
9/28/2012 04:52:31 am
It is very common for students to cheat (they are kids) but these students have taken it to a whole new level. Cheating is wrong but students can at times be put under too much pressure. I have heard of some of those methods of cheating but the tapping on the desk is uncommon to me. The texting answers to each other is uncommon as well due to the no cell phone policy in most schools. Personally I would rather study hard and earn the A rather then cheat and risk my academic reputation. Also cheating does not help you gain knowledge whatsoever unlike studying and actually learning the material.
Alexia M period 6
9/28/2012 07:33:44 am
I think that the students cheating must have taken some time to come up with a plan, so why dont they use that time to study. Importance of studying is huge because you will expand you knowledge. Any form of cheating should not happen and the consequence should be greater so students wouldn't attempt to cheat again for a while. They should get a zero on the test or quiz if they cheated. Determining what cheating is is different. Telling other students the material on the quiz exactly without the exact questions or answers is not cheating, but if you tell them the questions and anwsers, it becomes cheating.
Lisa Kelly period 1
9/28/2012 11:49:41 am
If students are trying this hard just to get away with cheating, then these grades must be extremely important to them . They are probably better off studying anyways because down the line they might get a job that they are not capable of and there will be no one to help them. Teachers shouldn't be blame themselves so much for not being tough enough on them because usually cheating isn't such a big problem. But the rules should be tougher because cheating now can really affect these students in the future.
Steven Johnson period 6
9/29/2012 12:58:51 am
I think that the main reason for these students cheating, is that grades mean everything to them. These students are in a very elite school and teachers and parents are striving for good grades. They will do anything to succeed and get the best grade even if that means cheating. I think that these students should not be cheating as much though, because later down the road they will not know how to actually study. It is a good idea that the school is fine tuning their rules and making the punishment for cheating more severe.
Andrea Henninger period 5
9/29/2012 05:34:34 am
I am not surprised at all that these studetns are cheating because it did mention that this school is very competitive so grades are probably very important to the students that go there. However, I think that the rules that this school has are a ltttle over the top. I do think that there should be a punishment for cheating other than just giving the student a 0 on the test or quiz, but I do not think that it should be as severe as what this school is doing, and I do not think that that the administration should have to get involoved because they have better things to do other than dealing with kids who cheated.
Katie Lundin period 6
9/29/2012 06:15:41 am
Students will always cheat because they didn't study or they want a good grade. They do it because they know they can get away with it. If schools had a more strict consequence for cheating student would be scared to cheat. I know that lots of kids don't study that's why they cheat but i don't think if a student studied hard and really ried that they would need to cheat. I'm not trying to blame it on teachers but if there is a bigger consequence you might see less cheating.
Daniel Peladeau Period 6
9/29/2012 06:42:49 am
Students will always be pressured to cheat because of their parent's and teacher's high expectatioins. Even more kids that normally wouldn't cheat are starting to cheat on quizzes and tests because they know that they can get away with it with only minor punishment if they get in trouble. As long as students try to study the night before the big test, they won't need to cheat on tests to get a good grade. I think that the school system should make a bigger consequence for cheating so that less students would try to cheat and more students would study for tests. But, maybe the school system doesn't want to make a bigger consequence because they would see a dramatic decrease in testing scores. That would make the whole country look bad because we already have a lower testing average than many other countries. Either you allow cheating in schools or you make new rules to get rid of it, but make the test scores for that school drop.
Victoria Curley Period 5
9/29/2012 06:53:14 am
I think the pressure on students in society has led to the rise in students cheating. Many students feel they can not handle the work load and just decide to cheat, and take the lazy way out. It is not fair for someone to cheat and receive a good grade and someone to work hard and receive the same grade. The consequences of cheating need to be more stern so students fear cheating. In the end most students that end up cheating are just being lazy! 9/29/2012 07:35:49 am
All these methods are cheating. Anything that gives a student an advantage on the quiz or test is cheating. It's not fair. Although it sounds like many students at this school the teachers obviously don't take the intiative to stop the cheating. There is barely any punishment and so the teachers need to enforce rules to try and stop the cheating.
Tiana Dickenson Per. 4
9/29/2012 09:45:15 am
If they cheat they are only cheating themselves. It's not going to help in the long run. I think though, that somethimes people feel pressured to help someone chet like if their friend asks them for help. i think they don't WANT to answer but they feel that they HAVE to. but they dont. and they shouldn't
Ryan Grundy period 4
9/29/2012 10:50:21 am
a lot of people cheat on stuff in school and now some teachers say they will give you a zero if u look around duri ng the test because they assume your cheating but i dont think the answers are on the wall and it s goin g to happen
Dylan Pontes
9/29/2012 02:42:17 pm
I think that these kids are pressured to cheat because they are in such a good school. They are supposed to be the best of the best and if they think they can't hold up to the standard following the rules they think they have to cheat. There may also be an upside to cheating though. If kids can think of an elaborate plan to cheat it means they can think creatively and outside the box. It may not be the best thing to cheat but it shows you can think creatively and that is great thing to have in life. So I think if the kids cheat they should be punished but you can't really blame them too much when they are given so much pressure to succeed.
Emily
9/30/2012 02:02:16 am
I believe that students cheat because of all the pressure. But obviously they can't handle it if the pressure leads to cheating. They should drop down to a level that they can handle because cheating is wrong and it's a sign of desperation and if students feel that way then they don't belong in the class. I would rather receive an honest grade than one I don't deserve.
Travis period 6
9/30/2012 02:53:45 am
The students are probably cheating because they are doing other things and don't have time to study. If they are in a in a elite high school then they must have a lot of homework and projects to work on and most likely they don't have the time to study because they leave that for last. After cheating a while though it probably becomes a bad habit that they cant break and if you tell your friends about what questions are on the test then it is not really cheating it is just giving them an advantage. The next time though your friends could tell you whats on the test and it kind of equals it out.
Casey White p.6
9/30/2012 06:22:21 am
I feel that cheating is not a good thing. The students at this high school probably realize that cheating isnt good, but when they're pressured to have good grades cheating is what they have to do. Instead of cheating to get the right answers they should just study, but then it comes to the realization that why would i study when im sitting next to someone who knows all the right answers. I feel that cheating happens all the time and their is no way of preventing it. in most classess where the kids are smart the teachers are just like "dont do it again" and thats not a real punishment. So to try to stop the cheating they should give harder punishments.
Nicolle P.3
9/30/2012 08:01:40 am
Everyone in their life has cheated academically to some degree... maybe even without knowing. Each year, there are record breaking amounts of applications that college recieve, making academic competition even more stressfull. Maybe if school systems didn't put so much pressure and stress on students, the need to cheat wouldn't be so bad. Unfortunately, schools like to pile on the work load making kids over whelmed and scared, making them feel like cheating is a necessary action to survive school and make them stand out as a student. The more extra curicular activites, sports, academic awards, AP/honors courses, etc. makes students look good to colleges. So students feel the need to take on all of that and then they still have to deal with school work and the uneccersary requirements like portfolio and senior project. All of this activity doesn't leave much room to study or do homework...so what do you do? You cheat here and there. You ask your friends what's on the test, you copy homework, and reword assignments. Is cheating okay? Is it fair? Is it right? No. Will it always happen? Yes. How do we prevent it? Who even knows.....
Jessica period 1
9/30/2012 08:51:01 am
Kids at school always have a lot of pressure on them. pressure to do well in school and get grades and pressure to impress their friends. if a friend didnt study for a quiz and they need your help by giving them the answers to the quiz so they can pass what does that student do? Do they help out their friend who is pressuring them into helping them cheat or do they do whats right? they most likely will given in too the peer pressure and help their friend cheat. just saying. kids will always cheat and there is no way in stopping them from doing it, its not a good thing to do, but it happens. everybody has to have atleast cheated on something once in their life even if they didnt even realize it. cheating is not the right thing to do, but kids will continue to do it, no matter how severe the punishment is.
Gabriel Diplan Period 5
9/30/2012 09:35:15 am
Kids shouldn't cheat at all in school. If grades meant so much to them that they tried so hard to cheat why can't they study that hard as well. I understand it might be a lot easier to cheat but then your study skills are low and when its comes to taking an important test and there's no one to cheat off of what can they do if they don't study.
Bryant per.5
9/30/2012 10:17:09 am
The reason why students are cheating is pretty obvious. No one wants to do poorly on a quiz or test and many students would like to take the "easy route" and coast through school. This may be bad but without good grades you're not getting into a good college and chances are you aren't getting a very good job. So cheating every once in a while on a test or quiz for a good grade is very tempting and seems necessary to some in order to excel as a student and a person.
Hunter Bazarnick Period 1
9/30/2012 10:49:01 am
I think it is perfectly reasonable to punish people like this for cheating. If you do not want to get in that amount of trouble, simply stray from doing such acts..It's simple really, if someone cheats, they will pay for their actions
Tora DeLiello
10/1/2012 08:07:23 am
I realize that there is a lot of pressure to get good grades. Most parents do demand it. But I think the whole tapping on the desk thing is a little far. If you really feel the need to cheat that bad, just study instead of going through that trouble. Everyone cheats at least once in their life but I think there should be consequences for it so people do not do it all the time. If you want the good great get it on your own.
Oanh Nguyen Period 5
10/2/2012 06:20:13 am
There are so many students that cheat to get a good grade and it is kind of unfair for those who don't and have a worse grade. Cheating is never right and it's not really worth the risk. Students should be using their time to study instead of using it to come with with a plan.
Talaiha Johnson per 4
10/2/2012 08:46:25 am
I would never cheat because, i would fear getting caught. Or if i even got away with it I would never be able to live with it.It would be eating me alive! Then id have to tell someone.
Erica period 3
10/3/2012 02:06:43 pm
This blog is one that I can easily relate to.. in a way... I don't mean by the cheating, but I do mean by the importance of academic achievement that is constantly drilled into students now a days. It is constantly stressed by teachers and parents that college is very important if we want to be able to do anything with our lives in the future, therefore many students fear that they may not get into college and will go nowhere if they don't do well in high school. I know personally that I am constantly being reminded the importance of doing well and getting into a reach or dream school. Many students of all learning abilities, but especially honors (or AP) students are expected to do so well and if we don't then we are looked down on. It seems like there is so much pressure on many of us most of the time, that some people often wonder if cheating and getting the A+ is better than studying like crazy and getting a B+. I do not doubt that the option does not cross many students minds over the course of the school year. All in all I highly believe that the pressure but on students is one of the lead causes of their instinct to cheat on an assignment.
Cara Period 3
10/4/2012 01:07:09 am
This importance of Academics is drilled into evcery kids head whether they are freshamn, seniors, or even in grade 6. Ever since we started school, teachers and parents have always explained to us that getting good grades is important for the futrue. Of course kids are going to cheat! If you really sit and think about it, honors sytudents and AP kids are either extemely smart, or they are the best cheaters. I guarentee that almost every student in pilgrim high school hass cheated at least once in their high school career alone. It is an issue that i believe will never be stopped..... NOT saying i cheat or anything, I jus tthink it is a fact of nature.
Claudia Period 6
10/8/2012 12:35:05 am
Some kids will go to any lengths to get a good grade. Especially if it's been drilled into their heads over and over that bad grades are unacceptable. Maybe if the school makes the puishments a little more serious, the students will spend time studying instead of planning ways to cheat. Seriously, if you're going to spend that much time developing a secret code or whatever, you're probably better off studying with your time.
Leah Fitz-Simon Period 6
10/14/2012 09:25:20 am
I can understand why students feel like they need to cheat. Why study and only get a 'B' when you can cheat and get an 'A'. But what I can't understand is why they would rather come up with a complicated way of cheating and helping each other on the test, than use that time to study. Some students will go as far as they need to to get a good grade on a test or quiz. But it's always better to study than to cheat, even if you don't get caught.
Devon per 6
10/14/2012 09:42:53 am
While cheating is terrible and defiantly not the right thing to do, I think I understand where these kids are coming from. The students there are told everyday by their teachers and parents that they have to get good grades to succeed. This could easily put a lot of stress and pressure on these kids. Sure it might be easier to study, but I bet some of these students fear that even if they study for hours on end, they may still fail, so they take up cheating, as a way to secure an A+
Yannick period 3
10/23/2012 10:11:52 am
I think it is not necessary to cheat for good grades. But to the statement, that the punishment is very light, I must agree. I think cheating is like lie and that is a really bad thing. Cheating is okay for a while but one day you must know, what you head to learn, and then you are in error.
Olivia DeLuca period 5
10/24/2012 11:50:26 pm
It really is not surprising that students are going against their morals in order to get better grades. I know from an honors student's point of view that getting good grades is extremely important to myself and my parents, and many people in my classes have feel the same way. The pressure that some kids have from their parents to do well in school is becoming ridiculous, and it is seen at this school. They are risking getting in trouble in order to get extra points on a quiz, just to be accepted by their parents. I do agree that the students have taken it a little far, but it is only to get their parents approval.
Julia F Period 6
10/28/2012 12:20:17 pm
I feel that kids who put this mch effort in cheating on testes and quizzes could be putting the same amount of effort in studying for the testes and quizzes and still pass. Comments are closed.
|
Archives
October 2015
Categories |