Cheating on the High School English Final Exam

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

Hey, everyone.

I just had my final exam for my English class this morning.

While getting ready, I was in a rush, and for the life of me, I just couldn’t find my novel for the exam anywhere. I have an older sibling who went to the same high school, and I knew where their book would likely be. When I found it, in a moment of panic, I grabbed it and left.

Now, my teacher had said before finals that he might collect our fully-annotated novels after the exam, as we needed to use them for the task we were assigned. I planned to use my sibling’s, and if he ended up collecting them afterwards, I’d just ask if I could drop off my book the next day, after I found it. About 30 minutes in, he started going around the room and flipping through everyone’s books, at which point I told him that I hadn’t been able to find my book in the morning, and was using my sibling’s at that time.

He told me sternly that I should have let him know him at the very beginning of the exam. After class, I talked to him, and he expressed his deep disappointment in what I did. He told me that what I’d done was a violation of the academic code of honesty, and that he’d talk to his colleagues about what to do.

I recognize now that it’d have been best if I’d told him immediately, but at the time, I really didn’t think it was a big deal–I simply wanted to use the text for quotes, and I didn’t even read a single one of my sister’s annotations. I wasn’t trying to take anyone else’s ideas at all. I didn’t mean for it to go this far, and if I’d known that he’d consider it such a grievous breach of the honor code, again, I definitely would’ve spoken up from the start. I honestly wasn’t even aware I was doing something wrong, and I wasn’t really trying to hide the fact that I had someone else’s book.

I’m a junior in high school in the US, which means I’ll be applying to colleges in the fall. I’m very worried that this will affect my chances. More than that, I haven’t told my parents, and I’m not sure how to break the news. I don’t have any record of cheating, and I’m sure my other teachers would be able to attest to my character, but this teacher is extremely upset and has brushed off all my attempts to explain the situation.

I have a meeting with my teacher in a few days, and I’m honestly not sure what to say. What should I do, and how will this incident impact my future?

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I would say that you shouldn’t worry about it.

Don’t take my answer as fact, I haven’t gone through a similar situation, but it sounds like your teacher is not listening to your side of the story. If you can get another staff member or counselor to mediate your meeting, I am sure that mutual understanding will be met.
As for whether or not it will go on your record, is this your first mistake like this? Did your teacher not make it clear that you could not use another person’s book? If both answers are yes, I’m almost certain it will have no impact.
Since you told him in the middle of the exam, it probably means that you didn’t gain anything from the annotations and I’m guessing that he made you retake the portions that you had already finished.
Tell your parents. If they have any sense about them, they’ll find issue with the teacher treating you this way. Depending on your relationship with them, parents can be your best advocate. Teachers tend to speak over their students, but if the parents get involved, it might be easier for you to explain your situation.
Hope this helps. In summary, I think it’ll be okay as long as you iron things out with your teacher.

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Thank you! I’m not sure if I can get another person in the room, but I’ll see what I can do. To answer your questions: yes, this is my first incident on academic dishonesty; no, my teacher didn’t explicitly tell us not to use someone else’s book, but he told me during the exam that it was a “requirement for taking the exam” and a “basic expectation,” and I do see his point. I didn’t retake anything–our exam was to write an analysis, and he just had me continue writing with a new book without annotations. I appreciate the advice!

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Find your copy of the book and bring it to him first thing tomorrow as a show of good faith. If the situation as you describe that should prove your truthfulness. Time is of the essence.

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I would also encourage you to speak with your parents and have at least one of them present in the meeting as support.

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The irony is you are being accused not just of cheating but being lazy. It would have been easy and impossible to detect if you had transcribed your siblings notes into your copy of the text.

Not sure if the circumstances are as you describe what the teacher thinks the advantage you gained is. As a parent I suspect and fear there may be more to the story but certainly hope not.

I would agree with the advice to have a parent present to avoid things getting out of control.

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Do not go to the meeting alone, and do not go with only school personnel. I would bring a parent or even an advocate. Normally I would not expect much to come of this but this teacher sounds like they are very focused on this issue. You made an honest mistake. It should not and probably won’t go on your record but if there is any chance of that I would even go so far as to get a lawyer. I know people will disagree with me, but that’s my take.

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As an outsider, I certainly would give you the benefit of the doubt, but looking at this first glance, the thought that you just happened to misplace your book and it was easier to locate your sisters raises some eyebrows. Adding in the fact that you waited to mention it until he started to collect them makes it look like it was intentional. I’m not saying this to accuse you of anything, just to be aware of the view of your teacher going into this.

In the end we all make mistakes, what’s important is that we learn from them. While it might effect the grade in your english class it’s not going to really effect your college applications (assuming you are not using this teacher to write your LOR!).

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Do not go there.

As you describe it, you were supposed to bring the book with annotations that were your own work. Instead you brought a book containing someone else’s work. If you try and blame it on the teacher this will not end well.

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Did the teacher end up holding on to your sister’s novel?

  • If so, when the teacher compares your answers to your sister’s annotations in the novel, will he find any similarities?
  • If not, and if as you said you only used the book for quotes and not the annotations, then you may want to bring the novel in to the teacher so he can compare your answers to your sister’s annotations. That way he will see that you only used the novel for quotes.
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I’m not trying to blame him–I was trying to reply to the commenter as directly as possible, and in that context, it might have seemed as though I was claiming that I didn’t know I should’ve brought my own book. I completely understand that I was meant to bring my own book. I just didn’t realize that bringing someone else’s book was so severe. I truly viewed the other as a spare, like a “last resort” I could use to access the text since I didn’t have my own with me.

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He did end up holding onto it. I’d never touched my sibling’s book before, so there shouldn’t be any issues if he were to compare our annotations. When I say that I happened to find it before heading out, I mean that we have a designated shelf where we’ve left many of the books we studied in middle/high school, and I looked there because it was more likely that their copy was there than it was that I could find my own before leaving. After returning home post-exam, I did find my book, so I’ll be bringing it to him when we meet. I carelessly threw it in a place I wouldn’t usually check while preparing for the exam the night before, so I’m really quite annoyed at myself right now.

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My guess is he will compare her annotations to your test answers. If there is a similarity between her annotations and your test answers it will make your explanation (just using the book for quotes and not annotations) less plausible.

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I am going to be a contrarian here: I am not seeing the “cheating” if the sole issue is that you were using a book that had someone else’s annotations.

The teacher never said you must ONLY bring in your book. What if you had used your sibling’s book during the year and added your annotations to those that were already in the book. Apparently, the first time you heard this was DURING the exam.

I was on our college’s honor council way back when. I was pretty “by the book”, but the breach of the honor code had to be clear-cut. Put this way: if your case, as you described it, came up before me, I would vote “no breach”.

However, as others have said, be very careful and take a parent with you to the meeting. Make sure you tell your parent EVERYTHING beforehand so they can guide you through this. I would definitely be most respectful of the teacher, but I wouldn’t concede this is academic dishonesty at this stage. You need to make sure of that. For example, check whether any time during the term, the teacher actually did make this clear.

I had several open book/open note tests in college and grad school, and I can’t recall of any such restrictions. But then again, this was DECADES ago!

Good luck.

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I’m with @mynameiswhatever on this one.

Skibro got all my old unwanted books if they were still in use the following year. Unless the book list / syllabus issued at the beginning of the academics year specified that the book must be bought new or the school provided the book, the teacher has no basis to complain. Unless there is more to this story.

Regardless, I agree with others that a parent should get involved.

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I posted about not going alone to a meeting on this. I am hoping the parent is on board with your views on this incident, and that the parent(s) are up to this interaction with the school, meaning that they can be calm and persuasively support your position. If not, think about an advocate for yourself. The real issue here is whether this goes on your record, I think.

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I think this is the key point. What is a favorable outcome? Some here have argued that “the teacher didn’t explictly say you couldn’t use your sister’s work on a Tuesday! She should be let off the hook!” (OK, I exaggerate) I don’t think this is a winning strategy. I think one needs to think about what outcomes might be achieved.

I think an F on the final but no record of cheating is an achievable outcome. I’m not saying this is fair or unfair, right or wrong, too strict or too lenient. I am saying I think it’s achievable.

Not many people have reacted to the words “honor code”. I think this makes the legalistic arguments ineffective, and likely to backfire. “I demand you follow the rules to the letter!” might well be followed by “In that case, I hope your daughter enjoys her new school.” So now what? When asking for flexibility, it’s probably not a good idea to simultaneously demand rigidity.

It might also be worth thinking about how adversarial one wants to make this meeting. Is that really the way to achieve the best outcome?

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There are ways to advocate without being adversarial. Start the meeting with smile. I consulted a lawyer once (health danger for kid) and went to the meeting and smiled while saying that our lawyer had a really really great suggestion that could help the school :slight_smile: It’s tough for a parent to keep it together but it can be done!

The teacher may be defensive and schools tend to circle the wagons, which is why I suggested another person accompany the student, but that can look like support, not attack, if the tone is right.

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No one has suggested being confrontational.

In addition, I fail to see the “cheating.” What if OP had used their sibling’s book and added annotations of their own? How is that cheating?

I agree with @compmom that this is serious and needs to be approached as so. However, unless something is missing in OP’s description, it seems that it is worth a polite but serious discussion as to whether there is any breach of the honor code in the first instance. I think there are many reasonable arguments to say that it is not. Conceding it is right away would be the strategy that is doomed to failure (literally and figuratively).

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Sometimes these things come down to whether one places the emphasis on “Honor” or “Code.”

  • The student hadn’t been using their their siblings book and just adding their own annotations.
  • The student knew that they were supposed to bring their own book, with their own annotations. (“I completely understand that I was meant to bring my own book.”)

So there is no question that the student did something that they knew they weren’t supposed to do. But as to the severity and potential consequence, I think it probably depends on information we don’t have. What was the nature of the test/assignment? What roll were the books and annotations to play in the test/assignment. (For example, had the teacher been telling the students throughout to annotate carefully because it may be useful on the test?). When the teacher compares the sister’s annotations to the OP’s answers, will the latter be derivative of the former?

Without knowing more about the conduct and expectations of the class, it is hard to speculate about severity of the action or appropriate consequences.