(no subject)

[danaeris]

Every time another student plagiarizes, cheats, or copies, it really gets me down. I feel so disappointed in them. Even if they don't have the ethics to do what's right... why don't they look around them and see how many students have been caught already? Do they WANT to get expelled?

I don't know what to say. I really don't.

Comments

cheaters

[etherial.livejournal.com]

What degree of cheating is expulsion?

.02/grain of salt

[divineseduction.livejournal.com]

Especially with the plagarism, it's sooo easy to do. Especially at that age where you kind of know it's wrong, but if it's wrong why is it so easy, and I'll just do a little bit to help me finish this paper, and and no one will ever notice, and and and.
I don't think they've even _developed_ the ethics to say how right or wrong it is. They've been -told- that it's wrong (have they?), but it's not a really practical application.
Also, especially for kids who are having difficulties with whatever the subject matter is, they're _trying_ to get good grades. I remember when I was in high school, and I'd just transferred schools from CA to NV, I was having some serious problems with the course matter. To the point that I got an F one quarter (quarter, not semeseter, thankfully). But, see, in CA, I'd always been smart. I'd aced everything, and everything was eeeasy. And then I went to NV, and -whoa-, you mean I have to actually work at this stuff? No, that can't be. But I still don't get it. That must mean I'm Stupid. A tutor? No, those are for Stupid people.
I'd spent K-8 in California, with school being a breeze (except for what I missed due to moving).
I admit I plagarized a little bit. Because I needed to be Smart. Thankfully, English is one of my best, and I could usually just creatively re-word things, but still.
Some of them may not even realize how many have been caught and what the real consequences are.
Behind plagarizing, copying, cheating, there is always a reason. And it's not always laziness.
I know it frustrates you, esp from a teacher's point of view, but sometimes, the kid can feel it's justifiable.
And then, there's just the lazy ones who really don't care and are doing it to get an easy grade. Those... well, can't really say anything about those.
And damn, I'm rambing at 8 o'clock in the morning. I need to finish getting dressed, and wake up.

Re: .02/grain of salt

[etherial.livejournal.com]

And the flipside is, every single paper I wrote in school would technically be classified as plaigarist. I have a huge head for facts, but not for documentation. I can't remember where every little quip or factoid might come from.

[catamorphism.livejournal.com]

Kids in the American school system get taught from an early age that education is a game to be played with the goal of fooling adults while learning as little as possible. So cheating is just a natural consequences of that.

[dawnd.livejournal.com]

Do they WANT to get expelled?

Well, possibly. Subconsciously, most likely, if so. Are all these kids there because THEY want to be, or are some of them there because their parents insisted they be there? Plus, never underestimate the power of denial. "Oh, it won't happen to ME" is incredibly common thinking, even when faced with direct evidence.

[elf]

Nobody believes he's going to be the one that gets caught. They all know plenty of examples of students who got away with it... for every one you catch, there are at least half-a-dozen you don't. (It may be that those half a dozen are doing much *smaller* forms of cheating--but the students aren't aware of those fine distinctions; they just know that cheating!=punishment.)

There are no "ethics of what's right" taught in school. The only ethic taught is PASS AT ALL COSTS. Cramming for tests isn't "right" either... if the point is to get an education, there's no reason to shove your head full of factiods that only last for 12 hours--and yet this is not only taught, but encouraged.

It's a flaw inherent in public school's approach to education, and as students get more tech-savvy, it will grow. Kids who grab entire papers from a single geocities site will get caught for plaigerism... kids who grab paragraphs from several obscure websites won't. Kids who get caught cheating will be punished; kids who don't, won't... and there will never be enough supervision to catch all of the cheats.

And for years, it's been hammered into them: The only thing that matters about school is the letters on that little card. When you get into college, there will be nobody asking around your high school to say, "Did she actually *learn* American Civics, or did she memorize the dates & places that would be on the test for a few days?"

They look at grades... not how they got there. You can punish kids by adjusting the grades, or by kicking them out (taking all the grades away)--but they know that none of that affects "real life."

(Have you read The Six-Lesson Schoolteacher?)

[polkamadness.livejournal.com]

You might want to try reading _The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead_.

- Mark