Help with the Repercussions of Malicious Accusations?

Parents Forum
1

<p>Hello, and please forgive me for possibly posting this in the wrong forum, but I feel that the best advice for my predicament might come from the experienced parents of this website.</p>

<p>Recently, at my relatively large, decently reputed, and mildly competitive high school, the students of our junior and senior classes have taken it upon themselves to actively attempt to destroy the reputations of top students in the class - in what seems to be an ambitious attempt to achieve through others' failure - by means of accusations of academic dishonesty.</p>

<p>Now normally, this kind of vicious animosity among students might be dismissed as being an inescapable aspect of the academic world. But here at our school, it has steadily transcended mere competition, and instead become a menagerie of wild accusations (without any evidence whatsoever, mind you) reminiscent of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible."</p>

<p>But here's the part where I desperately need some advice:</p>

<p>At first, I was aware of the fact that other students were attempting to undermine my achievements. It seemed a little suspicious, I suppose, that I rose from the bottom ranks during freshman year to become one of the highest ranked in the class (Although this was simply due to my laziness long ago, a fact that these students continue to ignore). So, convinced that the only way to accomplish this was through dishonest means, they formed a group that began going to teachers and convincing them of my - as well as a few unfortunate others' - alleged crimes. And the worst part is, they believed it!</p>

<p>Without any evidence, the teachers are convinced that we are guilty, without even so much as giving us a chance to defend ourselves. They have organized and agreed to deny us recommendation letters, bar us from student organizations, and potentially grade our classwork harsher than the rest. Our academic reputations are quite literally at stake here.</p>

<p>So my question here is, what should I do? I can't talk to the teachers, since all of their plotting is supposed to be secret, and it was decided that we, the accused, not be informed. The students are unreasonable, illogical, and hypocritical as well, so negotiation is out. I feel powerless here. It seems like there's nothing I can do to save myself.</p>

<p>Please help?</p>

2

<p>Where are your parents, the school counselor, and the school principal in all of this? What rock-solid evidence do you have that any one teacher is going to refuse a recommendation? Why on earth do you believe that any of the teachers would deliberately grade your work “more harshly” than anyone else’s?</p>

3

<ol>
<li><p>Nobody is involved because none of this is official - it is simply a collaborative effort on the teachers’ and students’ part to accuse us. I have been informed by a teacher already that someone attempted to have a quiz I took failed on grounds of supposed cheating, but at least she saw the absurdity of the request. </p></li>
<li><p>Because the teachers openly discuss this among themselves, and inform the students who are on their side of these plans, but thankfully a select few realize the unfair nature of this situation, and took the risk of informing me of these plans.</p></li>
<li><p>I’ll admit that this point is partially based on speculation, but teachers have already begun to subtly express their disdain, and a few are hinting at taking action against us. How though, I’m not sure as of yet.</p></li>
</ol>

4

<p>Who says you can’t talk to the teachers? If they are saying they won’t write you a recommendation, and are denying you access to school clubs, I would say a meeting with individual teachers would be in order. Leave your fellow students (accusers and others you perceive are in your same situation) out of it. One on one with a teacher is the most reasonable approach. If you don’t get a satisfactory answer, then teacher/administrator/parent might be a reasonable combo for a meeting.</p>

<p>Just a word of advice… your writing style comes across as kind of pompous. That style isn’t going to win you friends or supporters, IMHO. Be direct, honest, and sincere… that can go a long ways toward winning people over. And, if there is a grain (or more) of truth in the rumors or accusations, take a good look in the mirror again. Again – direct, honest, and sincere usually win the day.</p>

5

<p>Do you have more objective proof that you can use to back up your in-school academic achievements, such as SAT II scores, SAT/ACT scores, AP scores that are 4 or 5s? Do you have a good relationship with any of these teacher? How do you know that they have agreed to write you bad recs?
I think you should go to one of the teachers and talk about what you have heard through rumors and then ask why these students would spread “lies” about how honest teachers are agreeing to unethical behavior without proof. </p>

<p>If you don’t get support from any of the teachers then take it up a notch to the administration. At this point, you don’t have proof that these teachers are working against you.</p>

6

<p>this seems like a really simple fix. gather up everybody involved and head to the principal’s office and talk it out.</p>

7

<p>I apologize if I came across as unnecessarily lofty, but I am trying to highlight the sheer absurdity of the situation. The biggest problem here is that I’m not actually supposed to know about any of this, and it is only through the kindness of a few others that I do.</p>

<p>I really do want to talk to the teachers, but at the same time don’t want to risk hurting the reputations of those who took the risk of informing me.</p>

8

<p>And yes MizzBee, I have all the credentials (test scores and the like) to support my achievements, but students have told me directly that they think I don’t deserve any of it.</p>

<p>I suppose I will try to organize a meeting with one of the teachers, but how should I let them know that I’ve heard these rumors? It’s supposed to be strictly confidential.</p>

9

<p>You don’t have to rat them out. Just say you’ve heard rumors that you’ve been accused and you want to know if it’s true that the teachers have been told to be suspicious of you.</p>

10

<p>If this is true, and I don’t think it is, go to the principle. The last thing your principle wants is the top students not getting in to good colleges. Hurts the high school’s reputation. </p>

<p>Also, your OP could have been about 5 sentences and still gotten across the same message. I had to reread it a few times to get what you were saying.</p>

11

<p>The only way that secret plots succeed is if they remain secret. Get it out in the open, either one on one with teachers, or go to the principal and lay out your concerns. </p>

<p>In the meantime, when doing homework, take extra precautions by keeping good notes, documenting work on math problem sets, etc. It is commonly known as CYA. It is hard to say you are cheating when you can show all the steps you took to get to a result. </p>

<p>Also, you don’t have to reveal that a teacher told you about the plot. You could easily say that a student told you, since students are involved and that they are bragging that they convinced teacher X to accuse you of cheating. That may also have the effect of doubting the students since they can’t keep their mouth shut. Adults don’t generally get caught up in ruining students’ lives on the word of other students, so don’t assume that all of them are out to get you. You only need 2 teachers for recs.</p>

12

<p>If someone is accused of cheating, the burden of proof is on the accuser. If you haven’t cheated, and there isn’t any evidence that you have, there is no reason to be worried. If someone did accuse you of cheating and your work faces some extra scrutiny, but you’re not actually a cheater—again, no problem. You’re not cheating and you won’t get caught for something you didn’t do.</p>

<p>Since, by your own admission, you haven’t talked to the teachers or the administration, how do you know that the teachers believe the accusations of your peers?</p>

13

<p>My FIL is a former union organizer. He always talks of ‘secret plots and agreements’ between the different sides and factions that would cause all kinds of problems. His solution when talking did not work was always the same…bring in the press for a juicy story. Have you considered that if all else fails?</p>

14

<p>There is something rather implausible about all this…</p>

15

<p>No, I’m not going to get the press involved - we saw from the California lawyer father story that that only causes huge problems.</p>

<p>I know the teachers believe them because I’ve been informed that the teachers have made these conclusions with the students themselves. </p>

<p>It sounds like I do need to talk to the teachers about this, but I don’t want to make things worse by appearing guilty through being defensive…</p>

16

<p>So let me get this straight: You and some others have asked teachers for recommendations and they’ve said no–for no reason, your grades are dropping for no reason, and you’ve been shut out of student organizations for no reason. </p>

<p>So you believe that the teachers are in cahoots with some other students who have made “malicious accusations” but have chosen to go it on their own rather than follow school procedures or talk to the principal about their concerns?</p>

<p>What sylvan8798 said.</p>

17

<p>As I said before qialah, due to the intangible nature of the situation, some of this is based on speculation. But it is verified by the recent, abrupt changes in the attitudes of the teachers and the school (All testing in the school has been ordered to be strictly monitored, sometimes with more than 1 proctor), and the recent changes in election of officers to positions (There is no longer a voting process by the student body, but the teachers and officers now make all decisions).</p>

<p>^And yes, that is exactly what they are doing: complaining to teachers rather than officially voice their concerns.</p>

18

<p>I feel like if your teachers actually believed you were cheating, you would be punished… teachers don’t need to resort to passive aggression.</p>

19

<p>If you aren’t cheating, then the additional proctoring shouldn’t matter to you. Another thought… is it possible that some of the other students being targeted ARE cheating? How can you be sure that they aren’t? You may be tarred by association.</p>

<p>I am also unclear on whether you have heard these rumors through another student or a teacher. If it is a student, take it with a grain of salt… it is not at all uncommon for a student to lie or exaggerate to cause trouble (anyone who ever parented a middle school girl knows this!). It still goes on in high school.</p>

<p>If I were you, I would take the high road. Keep working hard and honestly for good grades. Be pleasant and straighforward with your teachers. Don’t think you are owed any leadership position by other students or teachers (trust me on this one, voting or not, you may very well end up disappointed by that). If you can, make sure all your extracurricular/leadership opportunties are not with one club or one group of people, just in case you do lose out for whatever reason (plotting, bad luck, or the possibility that maybe you actually aren’t the best choice for that position). You are months away from asking for recommendations (assuming you are a junior this year), make those teachers doubt your detractors through your actions between now and then.</p>

20

<p>Yes those certainly are possibilities intparent, as I did receive this information from students.</p>

<p>Accused or not, I know that I’m innocent, and I can only hope that everybody comes to their senses eventually. In the meantime, I’ll certainly make sure to dispel any doubt about the legitimacy of my work by studying and maintaining good grades…</p>