<p>Well, not all that goes around comes around. The cheating student received a scholarship yesterday, and the article in the paper just turned my stomach. They received the scholarship for "not taking the easy way out." This child spent over half of last week in ISS for the latest cheating episode. Not the first time they were caught, not the first time in ISS for cheating. </p>
<p>But it gets worse. The student will graduate at the top of the class, I mean towards the very top, receiving special honors. The other students will get to sit by and watch this. And the messasge? Cheating is okay. You can get caught repeatedly, and still reap the rewards. </p>
<p>Okay, I really need those "there, there nows"</p>
<p>I hope your graduating child is the last one in that hs. The story is stomach-turning.
The greatest culprit in this story is actually the school. It had the power to stop the cheating, to provide ethical leadership to the student body; instead, it chose to honor and reward the cheater. I don't know how the teachers can stand for it.</p>
<p>Oh, I forgot. There, there, now. Except, I think I need one, too!</p>
<p>I would be furious! I am sure there is a mature way to handle this, but I can't think of one at the moment. I would be calling the school, the parents, the newspaper.... Anonymously, of course. :)</p>
<p>The reality is that sometimes cheaters do win. Then they run companies like Enron. Even Martha Stewart seems to have benefited from some free publicity.</p>
<p>Let us know how graduation goes. Do the other students applaud?</p>
<p>Yes...the other two are in a smaller district that seems to have a better handle on school issues...for the most part. At any rate it's a lot better than the school involved in the cheating debacle.</p>
<p>I feel the same way, Marite. The school could have, and SHOULD have done something much earlier about the cheating. For instance, not allowing the grades from the classes in which the student was caught to be calculated for rank. Or just giving a zero and calculating it in. Either scenario is much nicer than what a college would do. Instead, this child will get to be honored and the other kids are supposed to be impressed at her ability to "overcome obstacles." </p>
<p>In an ironic twist of fate, the scholarship received yesterday was named after a retired department head, in the very department in which this student has been caught cheating.</p>
<p>Binx--you and I think alike. :) I was thinking that maybe a good way to "voice" disapproval would be to let them walk in stony silence, no applause.</p>
<p>I don't know why you are surprised. Although we have all heard the saying,"crime doesn't pay," we were wrong. It not only pays but pays well even if caught. Just see what happened to Martha Stewart and the Enron crowd. For some reason, our judicial system doesn't treat white collar crime as harshly as other types of crime especially drug related crime</p>
<p>By not taking stringent disciplinary action, the school certainly sent the same message that I noted above. If I were a parent who lived near that school, I would write every newspaper in protest in order to have the school principal removed from his/her job.</p>
<p>This is the same principal that called an all-out melee that involved numerous law enforcement personnel and lots of blood, AND caused the school to go into lockdown a "scuffle between two students." They actually said that everyone was overreacting. </p>
<p>I do plan to contact my school board members.</p>
<p>This is truly sick.The students should give her the silent treatment, at least. Perhaps the stand up and turn around treatment. Same for the principal.</p>
<p>Marite, I think we need a there, there and a cup of tea! </p>
<p>Driver, the silence would be a good way to send a message to the administration that the kids who play fair in the sandbox are sick of getting kicked in the face. </p>
<p>Our district does not make a big deal out of academic awards, with the exception of this top ten. It's one of the only academic nods. They make a HUGE deal over the top ten graduates, with special presentations and special cords to wear, etc.....to hold them up in front of their peers. If I were student #11 I'd be really ticked right now, not to mention the student who fell out of the top 10% by one person.</p>
<p>Wow, I am speechless! Unbelievable. Is the cheater in question the child of a board member, prominent family in the district? It doesn't add up. I would have a hard time at graduation.</p>
<p>Believe it or not, the child is not connected. There is a question of "disabilty" but the disability is not an academic hinderance. Unless of course you count lack of conscience a disability.</p>
<p>Driver, you beat me to it. Actually, in the B.H. case, thousands of signatures were sent to Harvard asking for Blair's admission to be rescinded, based on her plagiarism.</p>
<p>Taxastaximom, I was giving some thought to the advice that I present above. I do want to warn you about something. If you are going to write the local newspapers about the cheating incidence(s), be very careful of what you say. If you mention the student's name, be prepared to be able to prove cheating allegations or you could be successfully sued by her parents for libel. We are in a very litigious world.</p>
<p>Local newspapers are always looking for the village scandal ;)</p>
<p>In Moorsetown, the locals were so irate, they wrote letters to the newspapers, B.O.E., court, and Harvard, protesting the girl's behavior. Her house has been egged, painted, and trashed.</p>
<p>Not fair to compare this to BH!!! I despise what she did! With much help and support from her father she gamed the system. But the only time we know she actually cheated was in plagiarizing newspaper articles. For this she lost her acceptance to Harvard. I don't believe she was caught cheating in HS, serving in school suspensions for cheating while maintaining her perfect GPA. </p>
<p>Personally, I would be much more inclined to send an anonymous letter to this student's college of choice, rather than the local school board or even the local press, all of whom may "circle the wagons."</p>
<p>
[quote]
But the only time we know she actually cheated was in plagiarizing newspaper articles.
[/quote]
This is true. My reaction was not just to the cheating, but also to this comment by the OP:
[quote]
There is a question of "disabilty" but the disability is not an academic hinderance.