When Did Cheating Become Acceptable?

Did you cheat when you were in school? Odds are you did, and if you're older, odds are you got punished if you got caught. I remember cheating twice, once in high school and once in college. I chose The Agony and the Ecstasy for my independent reading project as a senior in high school, not realizing what a ponderous volume it was. I read the first half and skimmed the last. As it happened, in my oral book report session, Charlie Hardy, my English teacher, asked me only questions to which I knew the answers. In college, I wrote a short story that closely paralleled one I had read. My instructor had read that story too. He let me off the hook, choosing to believe that I was merely trying to write a story like the one I had plagiarized. He was wrong: I was being dishonest. Although I escaped being punished both times, I felt bad enough about my behavior to stop after the second incident.
In June, 2002, the Josephson Institute of Ethics conducted a survey among 12,000 high school students. Their finding was that 74% of those students admitted to cheating on an exam. Any teacher knows that most kids are going to risk a “short cut” occasionally. It is the rest of the survey's results that are truly disturbing. Thirty-eight percent of the students admitted to retail theft. Thirty-nine percent admitted they would lie to get a good job. Eight-one percent admitted they lie to their teachers.
The traditional beliefs about who cheats and who doesn't have been shown to be false by the survey. Student athletics are believed to help shape moral young people, but more varsity athletes cheat than their non-athletic classmates. Parochial schools pride themselves on teaching moral values, but parochial students are more likely to cheat in school and lie to their parents than their public school counterparts.
The sad truth is that when students cheat it's because we let them. By “we,” I mean teachers, administrators and parents. In many public schools, students who are caught cheating are allowed to do the assignment over, usually for reduced credit. An acquaintance of mine who teaches as an adjunct for a college told me that if a student there is accused of cheating, the instructor must prove it and find two other students who will corroborate his findings. Many parents, mistaking covering up for their children for protecting them, will protest vehemently when their son or daughter is accused, threatening legal action.
The cynicism shown by students is alarming. In 2002, 43% of students surveyed agreed with the statement, “A person has to lie or cheat sometimes in order to succeed.” Ironically, 76% said, “When it comes to doing what is right, I am better than most people I know,” and 95% felt, “It is important to me that people trust me.”
How did this “blurring” of what is right and wrong happen? Part of the problem is that many people won't use the words “lie” or “cheat.” Some of us remember when Richard Nixon “misspoke” himself. Bill Clinton weaseled around the concept of infidelity. Athletic heroes are in the news often for steroid abuse. Paris Hilton is hauled off to jail (for the second time) screaming, “It's not fair.” Public officials take bribes, clergymen hire prostitutes and abuse children, and parents brag about cheating on their taxes or “getting away” with something.
The result is that most students see cheating as “no big deal.” Students don't seem to understand the importance of education or even know what it means. Grades are the means to the ends: a diploma or a degree and a good job. Of course, once the students who cheated and lied their way to those jobs cannot perform the tasks required of them, the real fallout from cheating becomes apparent.
Teachers can help stem the problem by constructing assignments that make it difficult for their students to cheat. When I taught composition, my students' papers had to be accompanied by their notes, a rough draft and a first revision. Administrators need to get tough on cheaters. Students should not get a second chance. Believe me, if you have to swallow a “0” on an assignment, you'll think twice before you cheat again. Parents have to admit that their kids can make mistakes and back up teachers. Threatening to call your attorney is not going to make your child's dishonesty disappear.
Finally, it is up to all schools, public or parochial, to teach students moral values. The concepts of honesty, fairness, integrity, and industry need to be reinforced in our curricula, since they seem to be dying out in our society.

Scott Zimmerman 1959-2007

On Saturday the ninth of June, I led the celebration of Scott Zimmerman's life. Scott was a friend and the son of a friend, Al Zimmerman, and both died much too soon. It is my belief that Al, Scott, and Scott's mother, Judy, are reunited in Paradise. Ave et Vale.

Rethinking What Constitutes "Work"

As Americans, we have been taught from the time we are children about the positive values of hard work. History lessons for children emphasize the work ethic of our national heroes, Lincoln splitting rails, Grant valiantly working to finish his autobiography while dying of throat cancer, Mark Twain hitting the lecture circuit to pay back his debts from bad investments. Indeed, until recently we honored the “workaholic,” the person who never seemed to tire of labor, who put in voluntary overtime and forestalled retirement as long as possible. What we failed to pay attention to was the “holic” at the end of the word. Anything, whether it be drugs, alcohol, gambling, or work, which takes a person away from his or her duties as a parent or spouse cannot be good.
Furthermore, many adults have insisted that their children work part-time jobs to teach them responsibility and the value of labor. I have nothing against this concept. I was a lifeguard in high school and picked up other odd jobs here and there. But, the one thing that my father would never allow a job to do was take time from what he considered to be my most important responsibility: school. My father was determined that I would have what he never had, a college degree, and he would allow nothing to detract me from that goal. So, while the part-time job was a way to pick up spending money, it was never the most important responsibility I had.
How that has changed. We have parents who insist that after their kids reach sixteen, they will provide all the money for any clothing they might need as well as any other necessity. In my youth, parents were responsible for housing, clothing and feeding their minor children, not forcing them to become financially independent. These parents are extreme, no doubt, but there are far too many parents who turn a blind eye while their children put in far too many hours at their jobs. These kids are losing sleep, failing to complete homework, sometimes not even showing up at school because they are tired and unprepared. Students will tell you that they work to save for college but that excuse is ludicrous. What part-time job will make a significant dent in a five or ten thousand dollar yearly school bill, let alone cover the fees for a private college? No, they’re working for their cars, their car insurance, their gas and oil, their social lives, and to buy things that they want now. These things have replaced study as the primary focus of teenagers’ lives. And they’re allowed to continue on this path by their parents.
Adults complain about the failure of schools. It’s easy to fail when many of the students and their parents do not value education. You may want your child to do well, but will you monitor his work hours and regularly discuss his classes with him? I heard a parent complain to a teacher about the work load that she was assigning her class, but when the teacher pointed out that the woman’s son had four part-time jobs and inquired whether it might be wise to insist he quit some of them, the parent refused, saying, “That’s his decision, not mine.” Who is running that house? Where’s the responsible parenting that should be taking place?
My father taught me many things but one of the most important was contained in two words: “not yet.” “Dad, can I have a car?” “Not yet.” “Dad, can I have a stereo (or any other thing which seemed to be a necessity at the time)?” “Not yet.” He taught me that you can’t expect to get immediate gratification in life. Some things are worth the wait. In fact, some things should wait. But for many adults, it’s easier to knuckle under and let their children take time away from studies and buy things they really don’t need instead of letting them get those things gradually on birthdays or Christmas or not get them at all.
This is a labor town and we have a proud tradition of hard work to look back on and maintain. We recovered from the loss of AMC and rebounded at a time when everyone else said we would crumble and fail. But work, like everything else in life, has its time and place. Work as a focal point in life belongs to the world of adults. Children can and will learn responsibility by applying themselves to their studies, keeping the long range goals of life in mind. They will learn very little spending far too many hours in a low-paying dead-end job that will allow them to buy the trinkets they want, but not prepare them to become successful adults, spouses and parents.