10th Grader Falsely Accused of Cheating

Parents Forum
21

OP- hugs.

You need a sit down with your kid; unlike some of the other posters, I don’t think I’d be asking, AGAIN, did you cheat. Asked and answered- he either did or didn’t, and continuing to ask the question means you guys aren’t moving on-- and you’re either proving to your son that you don’t believe him (if he didn’t cheat) or asking him to lie (if he did). And I don’t think either of these options are where you want to be in your relationship with your son.

What would I do? Make yourself a list of desirable outcomes from this situation, and start there.

Outcome number 1- a good, honest relationship with your kid.
Outcome number 2- restore your son’s self-confidence
Outcome number 3- Not have this incident ruin the rest of his year, or poison his relationships with the faculty and administration.
Outcome number 4- Establish good boundaries with your son AND for your son.

So my game plan (of course, your outcomes will be different from mine, so your game plan will be different…) would be to assure my kid that I’m no longer interested in what did or didn’t happen. My only interest is in assuring him that whatever mistakes were made (and surely, copping to something he didn’t do was a mistake, but an understandable one), it’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of life, he didn’t push an elderly person down a flight of stairs, or sell crack to a third grader. It’s not life altering in any way, and you’ve already moved past it and so should he. Stuff happens.

Encourage him to move his seat in the class, and to make an effort to show his work on tests, quizzes, and homework. It’s a good habit to get into even if he intuitively understands the problem, because when math gets much harder (and it will, if he continues to like math) it will help him isolate errors if he gets into the habit of outlining his work. It’s also a great discipline for other subjects once he gets to college- philosophy, any foreign language if he’s translating dense and complicated works, engineering. He may have group projects in college and so getting the answer is no longer the goal- collaborating is. He could be on a team trying to create new and cool stuff- and showing his work is the way the team will be able to feed off each other’s ideas.

Encourage him to approach this as a speed bump- and move on.

Once you see he’s moving past it- sitdown number 2. Explain that if he is EVER in trouble, he does not need to go it alone. If he’s arrested- he needs to ask for a lawyer immediately and then shut up. It’s his constitutional right not to answer questions without a lawyer. If he gets into academic trouble, he does NOT need to answer questions from authority figures. There are parents (while he’s a minor) there are ombudsmen at college, and of course- more lawyers. Explain that it’s natural to be intimidated by aggressive questioning, and he should understand that calling in reinforcements is NOT admitting guilt- it’s having an unbiased pair of ears sitting with him who will not become emotional and can help him sort things out.

You’ll get past this. Take the grade hit without a protest so your son can move on.

22

I’m not really sure lawyering up is the message I would want to send my kid (And I am a lawyer). Mistakes can be made and usually dealt with in a reasonable manner, particularly in high school, and it isn’t really the parental job or right to get the kid out of every unpleasant situation he faces. There are numerous surveys which show something like at least one-third of high school kids admit they cheat, but zero percent of parents think their own student does.

23

“I think he said that the other kid had the same answer, but the other kid had the proper steps written out and my son did not.”

That is pretty damning - not 100% conclusive, but close. At this point it might be best to negotiate to keep the incident off his record and transcripts, but take the zero, learn from the experience and move forward.

24

Ok a couple of things. First, the good news is you’re kid will recover from this. It’s not the end of the world.

Second, tell your kid he is never to answer investigator questions with authority figures (schools, cops, etc.) without your notice and approval. (This is a good practice, one which I learned in 10th grade as well). What these “adults” did was wrong – they basically bullied a young kid into a “confession.” What choice did the kid have – 3 adults hounding him for the “answer” they wanted.

Third, get his copy of the test – that’s the evidence. Was the answer right? Have it reviewed independently. Have the teacher explain why “you can’t get the answer from what is written.” My kid was famous for going step A, D, E, F, Y = answer. (Of course he made a lot of mistakes that way :slight_smile: ) Make your own determination as to the likelihood that your kid copied. Determine if there is another class/teacher you kid can change to.

Based on the evaluations and how the powers that be handle the situation determine what to do next. Be prepared to run into roadblocks with administrators. The kid may just have to eat the 0, ace the rest of the tests, pass the AP exam and go tell the teach where to stick it. Good luck.

25

I have a problem with 3 adults berating a 15-year-old until he confesses. I wouldn’t take a zero. I’d have a chat with the principal and find out why his initial answer to their accusations wasn’t accepted. They shouldn’t be allowed to treat the children that way.

26

And these responses explain why teachers don’t usually bother dealing with cheating. There is no incentive to do so whatsoever, the parents will deny and raise a ruckus, the administrators will be annoyed-frankly, it’s a miracle anyone bothers to raise the cheating issue anymore;no wonder it is so commonplace now. Heaven forbid we hold our kids accountable for their actions.

27

Actually, my smart, intuitive math-y son could easily have done exactly that because he would figure out answers to math problems in his head, and then write down the “steps” only to please the teacher --and he often had no clue as to exactly what the steps the teacher wanted/ expected were. I know that he found the math part of calculus easy, but was confused by some of the conventions as to symbols/notations in equations. I used to watch him do his algebra & trig homework, writing down answer first, and then work backwards to arrive at the steps. So I can see it as being quite probable that he could have made all sorts of errors in the “steps” even though the answer was correct… precisely because he had never used those steps to solve the problem. My son was dyslexic as well, which would definitely increase the likelihood of making errors in the written sequencing stuff (such as inverting or transposing numbers, etc.).

That being said, I agree the confession is a huge problem. My son would have been pretty upfront with any teacher about his process – and if the OP’s son also had that habit, I’d expect that would be known pretty clearly by now. That particular pattern sets in long before high school.

My point is that may not be a case of “multiple, exactly offsetting, mistakes” because the person may not have actually solved the problem following the steps.

28

It also seems, from the original post, likely this is a private school (he has been there 4 years and is now a sophomore; they refer matters to the head of school). Private schools usually don’t follow the bureaucratic framework that public schools have to. At our private school, refusing to answer questions would lead to an automatic suspension/expulsion for a student, so no, the above advice to contact one’s parents before talking would not work at all. Many private schools have a similar approach-they wish to be able to talk to the student directly, without parents present,and if that is a problem,the student shouldn’t enroll.

29

The student answered the question. Apparently, he even answered it multiple times, but the 3 adults questioning him didn’t let up until he gave the answer they wanted. That’s a problem no matter what kind of school it is.

30

Fine take the suspension. NOBODY has a right to speak to my under 18 kid without my permission. Too many of these adults go on power trips and railroad the kids.

It happened to me. Your darn right my parents raised a ruckus. The school administration had a painful, unscheduled meeting with a group of parents. It was interesting watching the “adults” backtrack and “redo” their “investigation.”

31

This teacher didn’t “deal” with cheating. He accused a young kid, and then he and two others railroaded him into a “confession.” Maybe what he should have done was inform the kid and his parents. Then submit his “evidence” and meet with the parents and principal.

32

If that were actually the case, then of course that is a coerced confession. But all the parent knows is the student’s perspective. In the later posts, it sounds like the HR teacher is supportive of the son and still thinks he is a great kid, although also believing he made a mistake. So not clear that he was interrogated to the point of making a false confession. It is unlikely that this is the first time this principal has been in this situation (although not with this teacher). But that may be the case.

While i think my relationship with my kid is critical, i would also want my kid to be honest, if he did this, or learn to stick up for himself better if he didn’t. If he is in legal trouble, of course he should ask for a lawyer and not answer questions. But not sure that in school or in college a kid that is accused of plagiarism or cheating is entitled to not answer the charge or hire a lawyer.

33

Schools are not obligated to bring in a parent prior to disciplining a student and certainly not just to question a student. If a kid breaks a school rule, there is a consequence and the parent is notified. The police are not legally required to contact you before questioning your minor child. The child has the right to remain silent or ask for an attorney, but if they talk to police without parents present it can be a valid confession.

34

Lots of people will speak to your minor child. If you don’t like that, you better lock them in the house for 18 years.

35

Meh, not likely, lol. Nothing in op’s post to indicate that. It does seem like the teacher is fairly new on the job and perhaps a bit overzealous.

36

The teacher’s test, the teacher’s rules. Teacher could have easily said “Show your work or no credit on the problem.” Even back in the stone age, that was the rule for my math teachers. Teacher should have marked the exam with a zero.

37

My kids were required to show the calculations, too. And in logical order, not just a scratchsheet. They could lose test points for incorrect process, even if the final answer were correct.

What I’d say to mine is, “I’m going to go to bat for you, but I need the straight scoop on what we’re dealing with.” What were the requirements, why did they suspect cheating, etc.(Eg, was anything else going on? Talking, looking around, etc.) And I would go to bat, if it came to that.

Good chance a prep doesn’t report this with college reports. Unless they’re the ultra serious, take no prisoners sort. And if other teachers like and respect him, you can deal later with their LoRs. Important to be on the GCs good side.

My kid got tagged for something dubious. She handled this and the headmaster chat herself. 11th grade? It was dropped. Sometimes, you need to think about what’s war and what’s not.

38

I agree with the poster who suggested your son is smarter than his teacher. It seems to me if they are describing him as brilliant he easily could have derived the answer without showing all his work. That is one of the first indicators teachers are to look for among young children as a sign of being gifted. They just “know” the answers. I’m certain your son’s math teacher is not brilliant as well. (I’m not slamming teachers…I am one…he would be something other than a high school teacher if he were brilliant too).

I also agree that one course of action right now might be to just keep this off his permanent record. Very important.

The principal and teacher were wrong to speak to your son about something so serious without contacting you as well. That was completely out of line and something you can use to keep this off his record. Another thought I have is to demand he take another test, alone, without any other students present. This would give him a fair opportunity to show his ability. Your reasoning to request this is because there is no actual proof that he cheated (only the teacher’s opinion) so they owe your son the opportunity to test again. Did the teacher see him copy the classmate’s paper? It sounds like she/he did not. So it is an accusation without proof. Use this to demand action.

I would caution you that the additional math teacher present will probably not be unbiased. Most likely the course teacher and the teacher from the dept. are friends and work together. Unless you get lucky and for some reason the second teacher is highly ethical and knows more about the course teacher than you do. Sadly, I have watched most teachers “stick together” even when they know one is in the wrong.

If your son will not have this teacher in future years, and the rest of his experience is positive at his school, try to move on and put this behind you. There are always bad apples and this is a lesson for everyone.

In terms of getting a lawyer…honestly where I live and where I have worked, the administration would respond to that. I have found teachers and administrators can often be bullies and do not keep their own power in check until you bring in a bigger power. Again, I have been and educator for over 25 years. I’ve seen it all.

Good luck,. I am so sorry this happened to your son. Of course he crumbled under that type of pressure while being accused. Honest, hard working students who hold themselves to high standards always do. It’s the others who can handle that pressure and lie right to your face.

39

If police had detained a minor in that situation, and had told the kid that they couldn’t leave until they confessed, that confession would have been thrown out by any court. It would be considered as detaining the kid, which is the same as an arrest, and telling a kid that they have to answer violates Miranda laws. The kid would have had to be notified that they do not have to say anything, which did not happen.

Of course, these weren’t police, so Miranda rights are not relevant here.

40

I agree with the idea that there are kids who can solve most BC calc problems appearing on typical high school tests in their heads, without showing intermediate work. I also agree that most HS teachers will generally be quite a lot less talented at math than these kids.

For the OP, how good is your son at math? That is the threshold question. Start with that. If he is exceptional, then I think I would try to fight this. The school will never show you the other kid’s test because of privacy concerns. A lawyer could help here, but it is a lot of fight for not much payoff, unfortunately.

Best of luck, I know it is frustrating.