By April MacIntyre Feb 22, 2010, 16:38 GMT
Cheaters suck. They ruin the playing field for honest kids who do not use iPods, hand helds and other high tech gadgets, along with old school crib notes and other tried and true methods that allow those who refuse to do the work a leap frog over those who hit the books and learn the material.
Redefining what "is" is: former US President Bill Clinton EPA/SHAWN THEW
No surprise then that cheating in school is easier and more popular than ever.
According to recent studies, 64 percent of high school students admit they cheated on a test within the last year. The ability to cheat in college has skyrocketed too.
Kids observe the behavior of adults, and with such wonderful examples in congress, sports, corrupt law enforcers and politicians overall, it's no wonder the stigma of cheating to get ahead has been lessened, as the shame of lying and other dishonorable deeds.
Nick News with Linda Ellerbee’s Cheaters Never Win: True or False? premiering Sunday, March 7, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Nickelodeon, explores today’s reality of kids and cheating.
“Who doesn’t cheat?” says Andrea, 15: “We have politicians that have cheated, and look where they are today.”
“If a kid hears that politicians cheat, corporate executives lie, athletes take illegal steroids (or parents cheat on their income taxes), and that these people often get away with it, why are we surprised at the message that kid is getting?” says Ellerbee. “And it’s not just about bad influences. Why students cheat is a complex question. But I was stunned at how common cheating is today.”
Over and again, we hear feeble cries of "Character Counts," but what people actually do is influencing a generation of kids who took a cue from President Bill Clinton during his tenure:
From the 1998 Starr report, a quote from Bill Clinton:
"It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is. If the--if he--if 'is' means is and never has been, that is not--that is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement....Now, if someone had asked me on that day, are you having any kind of sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky, that is, asked me a question in the present tense, I would have said no. And it would have been completely true."
Right. With that kind of leadership and the current sad state of some sensationalist reality TV, sports figures juiced up on steroids and some Washington D.C. protected Wall Street titans cleaning up in bonus deals while people are out of their homes, it's no wonder cheating is at an all-time high.
Begin with this: Advances in technology have made cheating easier. Matt, 12: “I see lots of kids hiding their cell phone under the table and texting each other the answers.” Richard Muszalski, a teacher at Northeast Middle School, Creve Coeur, Mo.: “They are literally just copying stuff right off the Internet, and trying to pass it off as their own.”
Many kids say they cheat because they feel pushed to succeed. Tara Rosipal, teacher at North Middle School, Great Falls, Mont.: “We have seventh and eighth graders who are worried about college and fear that if they don’t have straight A’s here, it’s going to affect their ability to get into a college. Kids that I talk to and I say, ‘Why did you cheat?’ They say, ‘Because I needed the A.’”
Christine, 13: “I can find myself in a lot of pressure because I do a lot of activities out of school,” she says. “Last year, I was just so overwhelmed, and I caught myself cheating sometimes. You never wanna see a bad grade on your paper.”
“I hate cheating,” says Jackson, 15: “I go home with guilt piled onto me. I just feel like probably one of the worst kids ever, but I still wanna get good grades and I still wanna make my family happy and get into a good college someday.”
What classifies as cheating may not always be so clear. Nick News asked kids across the country to weigh in on a series of potential “cheating situations.” Randy Cohen, ethicist for The New York Times, addresses the issues surrounding what the right thing to do is in each scenario — and why.
While it has become increasingly difficult to detect cheating, schools are finding new ways to prevent it, including the use of plagiarism prevention websites. “I don’t want to catch cheaters,” says Susan Heckman, English teacher at Coronado High School in Las Vegas. “So why do I put the time and effort into it? It’s for all the students out there who have the courage to put their very own work forward. So I feel like it’s my job to protect the honest students.”
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