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Sadly,
some things never change. From feigning a stretch in
order to look at another student’s paper to using sign
language to send answers to your friends-cheating, it
seems, is alive and all too well in schools today.
Traditionally,
cheating was thought to be most prevalent among
underachievers. But the truth is it transcends all
ability levels, especially now with the increased
emphasis on testing and grades. Even those students who
say they know cheating is wrong may cheat to get a
score.
"Cheating
definitely happens. A lot of kids do it. A lot of kids
seem to get away with it," says Sheryl Kaplan, a
student assistance counselor who works closely with
secondary students. "The rationalization is that it
is okay to do in order to stay in the game."
Grades
aside, there are factors specific to middle schoolers
that seem to motivate them to cheat even when they know
they shouldn’t. Kaplan says that at the middle level
so much of kids’ self-worth is related to how well
they fit in with their peer groups. For this reason, it
isn’t uncommon to find smart kids letting others cheat
from them in order to be accepted. A fear of being
labeled and picked on for being "stupid" can
also play a huge role in why kids cheat.
Stemming
the tide of cheating
Although
teachers and administrators might seem the obvious front
people when it comes to putting an end to school-related
cheating, the reality is that much of it goes unnoticed
or unreported. And Kaplan says that relying on honest
kids to report incidences of cheating that they observe
or are party to doesn’t always work with middle
schoolers. Kids are often resistant to pointing fingers
and being labeled as "tattletales." Having
clearly defined expectations for your family when it
comes to ethical topics like cheating can go a long way
toward helping prevent the problem and to bolster your
children’s resolve to do what they know is right. Here
are some ideas:
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Be
clear about what constitutes cheating.
Academic
cheating can take many forms, such as copying
homework, cribbing test answers, buying a term paper
or test questions in advance or paying someone to do
school work for you. Mistakenly, kids (and some
parents) can think that it is not necessary to
provide attribution (footnotes, source lines) for
information found while doing research if the
wording is changed slightly. When in doubt, check
with your child’s teachers or guidance counselor
about classroom and school-wide policies on
cheating.
-
Start
them out young.
Though
intentions early on are well meaning, parents can
send the wrong message when they do more than their
share of the work on their child’s Cub Scout
Pinewood Derby car or help construct an elaborate
paper mache relief map of Antarctica. Children
should be encouraged from an early age to do their
own work, and never mind that some of their peers
are turning in elaborate parent-created projects.
Assure them that they are actually learning more,
will do better in school and will have the
satisfaction of knowing that the work they turn in
represents their own abilities.
-
Look
for teachable moments. Use
every opportunity to discuss your values and model
them for your children. This might include calling
attention to articles in the newspapers about people
who have cheated or showing your children what you
would do yourself in the face of temptation - e.g.
when the supermarket clerk overlooks one of your
grocery items and fails to ring it up. Let them know
that cheating is never right whether a person gets
caught or not.
-
De-emphasize
grades. Though
many middle school students know cheating is wrong,
time and again they point to a fear of their
parents’ negative reactions to grades or test
scores as motivation. As much as possible, Kaplan
suggests rewarding your kids’ efforts and
progress, not just the final results.
-
Help
your kids by role-playing. Create
scenarios that you can work through with your kids
before they are confronted with a situation. For
example, "You’re in the middle of a test and
your teacher is in the front of the room with her
back turned momentarily. What are some of the things
you could do or say to the kid who takes that
opportunity to ask you for a test answer?"
Family
resources
Encouraging
kids to do the right thing, particularly when confronted
with peers who cheat and seem to get away with it (as
well as public figures who use it routinely to get what
they want), can be tricky. Following are some books that
address a variety of ethical situations that kids might
face and ways of helping bolster their resolve:
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Building
Moral Intelligence: The Seven Essential Virtues that
Teach Kids to Do the Right Thing by Michele
Borba
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Call
to Character: A Family Treasury of Stories, Poems,
Plays, Proverbs, and Fables to Guide the Development
of Values for You and Your Children by Colin
Greer and Herbert Kohl
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Books
That Build Character: A Guide to Teaching Your Child
Moral Values Through Stories by William
Kilpatrick
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What
Do You Stand For? A Kid's Guide to Building
Character by Barbara A. Lewis.
>
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For
permission to reprint this article, please contact the
Capital Region BOCES Communications Service at (518)
464-3960.
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