10th Grader Falsely Accused of Cheating

Parents Forum
41

If the kid is so good at math that he can do it in his head, he should have no trouble foing what the teacher wants and getting 100 in every test going forward and a 5 on the exam. Or a 100 on a make-up exam. This grade seems fixable. And success is the best revenge!

In reading this thread, I wonder if the kid feels pressure to get great grades from the parent, perhaps to the point of cheating. Whether he cheated or not, I think the issue may be addressing the relationship with the parent. OP, you are clearly 100% behind your kid – that is so critical! Maybe he needs to know you are 100% behind him whether he gets straight As or not. You are going to go to bat for him with whatever he needs, and who knows what’s at play here. Peer pressure, need to please you, needs a tutor, needs to stand up to authority. You are hearing only his side of the story and perhaps only the side he thinks you want to hear.

42

I’m wondering why it takes 3 adults to question a child. Two I understand – a teacher and a witness – but what’s the purpose of the 3rd? How long was the discussion and how many times did he tell them he didn’t do it before he told them what they wanted to hear? Speaking to a child is different than having 3 adults gang up on them and angrily demanding that they admit to something.

43

The behavior of the adults who cornered this kid was unnecessary and shameful, and I would call them on it. Some adults have falsely confessed to crimes requiring prison time when backed into a corner. I have no problem believing a kid would confess to something he didn’t do if he thought that would end the harrassment and make everything better. An adult who would do this to a child has no business teaching.

If the teacher has no proof outside of this highly questionable confession, he needs to grade your son’s test, give your son the appropriate grade, and move on. Next time this teacher suspects something, he should make sure he has proof and need not resort to badgering to get a confession.

I cheated exactly one time in high school, got caught, got the zero I deserved, and never cheated again. That is not what is being described here.

OP, from now on, make sure your kid knows to call you at the first sign of trouble.

44

It is so interesting that most everyone here is so quick to jump to so many conclusions based on one emotional mom’s information passed on by her emotional child who has found himself in trouble.

People have concluded that he is so brilliant he couldn’t possibly have cheated. That he is in fact so much smarter than this teacher - if that is the case I wonder why they keep him there. Is there no DE math class at a local U or online CC class of BC Calc, no online cyber, if private then no public school? This poor child has no other options but to sit in a school filled with incompetent, angry, bully adults who are jealous of his ability. Everyone is also so quick to accept that 3 grown adults berated and forced a confession out of a 15/16 year old boy and he admitted to cheating just to make them stop. So many are quick to assume that incorrect and incomplete work leading to a correct answer is normal when likely the work is required, not just the correct answer.

Are there over zealous, power hungry adults? Yes, some. Is it likely that there are 3 zealous, power hungry adults all targeting one innocent teen who has done nothing at all to bring this on?

Are there teens in advance classes who cheat? Are there teens who lie to their parents? Are there teens who get in over their heads and make up stories to become get out of trouble? Are there kids who know that mom will believe them no matter what even in the face of evidence?

Which is more likely in this situation given that the teen in question admitted it to the school and also the school had incomplete/incorrect work on the test? How many times have parents said “not my child”, “my child would never” only to find out that yes, they are children and they make mistakes. Many of the same people outraged at the bully teachers and incompetent school are also those who feel their own child is the victim when others in their classes cheat and nothing is done. It is easy for us to see clearly when it is other children making mistakes and call them on it but some find it impossible to see it in their own.

Since we were not there, we do not know the players, and we do not have any additional information except for mom’s emotionally charged view, I have no idea about the true story. IMHO she has received some great advice (and tons of horrible advice). I’ll add mine: Use this as a learning experience and move on. There will be bigger challenges ahead. No one at the school will think anything of this or hold this against a 10th grader. Learning experience and move on.

However, when parents go all in with “not my child”, “my child could NEVER do that”, and go with the attitude that the adults who they have had not problem entrusting with their child are now suddenly power hungry bullies who enjoy breaking down brilliant kids because (??______??) there will likely be some fallout in the future. When the child turns into the victim and calls in mom to fight to the top to cover up their mistake, there will be some fallout. Will the GC and future teachers know or care that a 10th grader cheated (or was accused erroneously of cheating) on one BC Calc test - not at all likely. Will the GC and future teachers know and remember that Mom ran in to defended her child even in the face of facts, accused the teacher of incompetence and not recognizing her child’s brilliance, accused three peers of bullying and forcing a confession, insisted on bringing in another teacher/independent outsider/lawyer to attest to her her child’s brilliance and therefore his innocence, insisted to upper levels that no one should be talking to her child without her there and that disciplinary action should be taken against 3 adults because there is no way her child could possibly have cheated. Yes, when mom takes this route it is highly likely to impact her child’s future at that school. Take that road only if you are prepared for all of the fallout. The short term, your child’s good name is “cleared” and they pass the test/class but at what cost socially, academically, and emotionally?

45

@roycroftmom

Ding ding 4 kids here. Amazing what they will tell others ans not tell their parents for fear of disappointing them. Even if parents are super understanding etc etc.

46

It doesn’t help the kid, long term, to blame others, nor frankly, to accept his story unquestioningly. The teacher has no reason to lie. The kid has every reason to lie, and yes, even our wonderful kids can lie sometimes. Failing to see that is a problem far more important than one cheating incident.

47

My take away…this kid should be told to tell the truth. If he really didn’t cheat, there was absolutely no reason for him to lie and say he did.

And I also agree, this is not the end of his life as he knows it.

48

@bamamom2021 You’ve raised some good points about the potential fallout, and for that reason alone, it might be best to move on with the kid learning to call his parents at the first sign of trouble.

In general, regardless of whether or not the kid actually cheated, the 3 adults vs 1 child meeting and coerced confession were highly inappropriate.

The kid should have been asked if he cheated, and if he said no, and there was no proof, the teacher either needs to move on and grade the test or call parents in for a discussion.

I do think it may be wise for the OP to avoid a battle with teachers and staff if her son is going to stay at the school, but she should definitely share her concerns about the meeting and lack of parental notification with the head of school so they can refine their policy re: suspected cheating. This can be done in a diplomatic way, such as, “I understand the teacher had concerns about my son’s test, and I know things like this happen, but I’d also like to share my concerns about the way this was handled.

There is NO reason for a meeting such as the OP described to take place. Sadly, it is not at all difficult for me to believe that there are adults out there who bully children. That is why parents need to be notified and involved.

49

Also, if the teacher had no proof that the student cheated, why not start by simply saying, “I don’t see how the work you’ve shown here leads to the answer you provided. Can you explain how you arrived at this answer?”

I do not understand why 3 adults felt the need to corner this kid.

50

"he had the same answer on two problems of the person sitting next to him, basically without the supporting steps outlined thereon. "

This likely raised the accusation because the same two answers were both incorrect and identical. Under that circumstance it is a reasonable accusation. I suspect if he had the correct answer he would have gotten the traditional “show your work next time”.

People jump to a conclusion that an educator woke up and randomly decided to falsely accuse a kid and then coerce a confession is a stretch.

Very unlikely that a kid gets the same wrong answer without cheating and the one who shows the work deserved the benefit of the doubt.

I don’t know the facts but my default reaction isn’t to view my kid as entirely right or wrong because to do so would set him up for future failure and disappointment I would ask the kid to explain what seems implausible and tell them I support them either way. Then get to why the kid felt enough pressure to compromise their own moral code.

51

I googled whether school admins can question students without parent presence.

Many lawyers say yes. I cannot post those links because they are ad sites for private legal business.

I think this site is not an ad:

https://www.nyssba.org/news/2007/12/07/on-board-online-dec-10-2007/parents-not-entitled-to-be-present-when-students-questioned/

52

The teacher did have proof the kid cheated, that’s why the allegation was made. An answer sheet with identical answers to the kid next to him and no work shown is pretty conclusive. There are very, very few kids who do the work only in their heads at the calc BC level (unlike,at the arithmetic levels) and if he was one of them, the school would already know all about it for a long time.

53

Was just about to ask the same thing as #49 - were both answer wrong? If there is no work, with the same wrong answer, I think it’s much more suspect.

I also don’t know teachers who jump to the conclusion that kids cheat.

What I also don’t understand, is why a student would confess to something they didn’t do, no matter how stressed out.

I would take a step back from this OP and dig deeper into the facts.

Sounds like the school is willing to give a 0 and move on, and not put this on his record. If that’s the case, I would chock this up as a learning experience and move on.

FWIW, not showing work in my dd’s hs math classes would have been a 0 on it’s own.

54

He was told that he had cheated, because he had the same answer on two problems of the person sitting next to him, basically without the supporting steps outlined thereon.

Doesn’t this offer a different perspective? The 2 extra adults were his two homeroom teachers. It’s the son who described it as “a tribunal.” That may be true. Or not. First, you get the best picture of the facts, as best you can.

How do we get to bullying and incompetent teachers forcing a kid into submission? Or this notion he’s got to be brilliant, because he got the same answer as the kid next to him, without the math proofs?

What was under his control, was not cheating. (Not accusing him of this. We don’t know.) After the accusation, it was the confession. Imo, the problem isn’t the lack of an attorney. The whole thing started with test answers matching another, without his own math proofs. Brilliant or not.

We don’t know if the math proofs were expected. Much we don’t know.

55

I didn’t read through all the posts but I share what we have told our children when it comes to being called down to the principal’s office. We tell them to say nothing and only that they should call their parents(us). Never admit to anything. Thankfully they have never been sent to the office.

I don’t trust schools to always do what is in the best interest of my children.

56

Even for the super-advanced math kids, this is very rare at this level of math. But even is the kid is one of those few, unless this school is on a block system, the incident happened ~22 weeks into the course. If there was a pattern of not showing work, that should have/would have been previously addressed.

But at the end of the day, we’re only hearing one side of the story. The parent may have only listened to one side of the story (hearing being different than listening). Regardless, we have only one side, and the story I am seeing has numerous holes, not necessarily deliberately. I wish the OP and kid the best of luck in resolving.

57

Where did the OP say they both had the same wrong answer?

There are ways multiple students can arrive at the same wrong answer, but I can agree that under these circumstances that might arouse suspicion.

I don’t assume the teacher woke up wanting to jump on the students. I do think students are sometimes falsely accused, and I don’t assume students are guilty without evidence.

If he is guilty, he deserves the zero. Even if he IS guilty, the handling of this was inappropriate.

58

That’s why I want to see the test. It starts with review of the evidence. Is it really what the teacher says it is? Heck, we had a situation in HS math where the proofs where wrong, for years. I accused my kid of not doing the homework and concentrating. When he looked at the proofs and explained where they went wrong I had egg on my face.

Show me the evidence first. Tell me why you think it’s cheating. Then we can talk to the kid.

59

Why in the world would a teacher need 2 adult back ups to discuss this with their student?
Adults give false confessions–I don’t know why one teen confronted by three adults should be any different.

The kid is in Calc BC in 10th grade–I consider that pretty smart at least in my book.
I agree work should be shown–my teachers just would give no credit to those problems with no work.

60

I think the handling of it was fine. The young man was asked by his teachers what happened, and explained. Teens should be capable of doing that without assistance if they are going to college in a few years. Was it awkward and unpleasant? Likely, For all involved. Learn the lesson, and put it behind you.