I have a moral dilemma. Parental advice would be appreciated

Parents Forum
1

<p>This may be a long post, but I would really like you to read it:</p>

<p>In my BC Calculus class, at least half the class is cheating. It all started when a kid discovered that he had copies of old tests from when his brother attended the school. These are the very same tests that we are taking now. At first, the cheating was confined to this one student. However, when other kids in my class found out what was going on, they too started to cheat. I am one of the students who doesn't cheat, so my grades are quite a bit lower than the kids who are cheating. The worst part is, my teacher doesn't suspect a thing, even though one kid has been doing it so far. He just assumes that he is a great teacher and has even told us that (which I thought was a bit arrogant of him). There are 3 things that prove that my class is cheating:</p>

<p>1.) Most of the cheaters are out-performing the valedictorian (who isn't cheating) of my school on tests on a consistent basis. Prior to when the cheating began, none of these students even came close to beating him. </p>

<p>2.) On the last test when the "main cheater" was unable to get a copy of the test, the grades were absymal, much like they were at the beginning of the year. This is obviously because they were unable to cheat, not because they had a "bad day" as my teacher assumed. I highly doubt that over 1/2 the class had a bad day.</p>

<p>3.) When we are "taught" in class, the kids who cheat seldom know the answers to questions when they are called on. However, these same kids somehow pull of amazing grades on extremely challenging tests.</p>

<p>I would have reported this issue to my teacher immediately, except for these two reasons:</p>

<p>1.) A couple of the cheaters are friends of mine and I wouldn't want to feel guilty about ratting them out.</p>

<p>2.) I think that if I were to report the cheating and my teacher were to reveal that he was notified about it to the class, the kids would probably suspect me right away as the whistleblower because I have openly opposed cheating ever since I began high school. </p>

<p>So parents, I pose this question to you because you might have experienced a similar situation to this at some point in your lives.:</p>

<p>What should I do?</p>

2

<p>What did your parents suggest?</p>

3

<p>Do you have a guidance couselor that can keep confidences and talk this through with you? If you were my son (and my son has had these sorts of issues pop-up) I'd ask what your options are for support at the school. This is a really awful and maddening situation. It's not good for the kids who are cheating either--do they have access to the midterm? The cheaters lack of true understanding may show up on midterms and finals, not to mention the AP exam. I know it doesn't help, but working w/o cheating is going to help you in the long run, not to mention the comfort in being an honest person.</p>

4

<p>I haven't talked to my parents about it yet, which I know is bad, but I already know that they'll want me to go to the teacher right away. I am still shaky on this because of the reasons listed above, especially the 2nd one. If I were to report the cheating to my teacher, I'm almost positive that my classmates will know it's me and will always hold a grudge against me if I report them. I don't really want to be in a class where the majority of the people hates my guts for the remainder of the year.</p>

<p>Glasses, I know that working w/o cheating will help me in the long run. I could just as easily cheat, but I know that by doing so, I will be jeopardizing my performance on the AP exam. I am also not cheating because it would violate all of my moral values which I strongly believe in.</p>

5

<p>Since the cheating is based on the teacher reusing old tests, perhaps you could tell him in confidence and he could just start making new tests from now on. This would not rectify the problem of the unfairly high grades the cheaters got on the earlier tests, but would solve the problem from this time onward.</p>

6

<p>How about an anonymous note providing as much detail as possible so the teacher will know it's credible? All he would need to do is change the next tests for his own verification.</p>

7

<p>OK, you don't think you can trust your parents in this. I'm not entirely sure that referring to old exams is cheating. If I had access to old class materials I might use them as study guides. The teacher is pretty clueless to recycle old tests like this.</p>

<p>I like the suggestion of MotherOfTwo -- talk to the teacher alone, or with someone else who knows about the use of old tests, and try something like this, "I have something to tell you, but I won't be able to answer any questions about it. I know for sure that more than N students in your AP calculus class have copies of your old tests and are using them as study guides. I don't know if they understand the material or are just writing down what's on the old tests."</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

8

<p>I really think you should report them. If you have a decent GC, maybe that route would be something to look into.</p>

<p>An important part of being an adult is having the integrity to do the right thing even if you're ostracized as a result. While it'd be unfortunate to close your HS career on such a note, you're the one who's going to have to look at yourself in the mirror every morning.</p>

9

<p>Teachers should make up new tests if the previous students were allowed to keep the tests. I consider it laziness if the reuse old tests without keeping them confidential. I am not sure if I would call it cheating if the teacher was just reusing the same tests which were handed back to previous classes. If someone's older sibling or friend took the class and the current student asked to see old tests as a study guide, I do not think it is cheating because they would not expect their test to be exactly the same as the old one, but would just be using it to get an idea of the type of questions that could be asked. However, if the students obtained the old tests by some dishonest means, and the teacher did not intend for old tests to be out there for all to see, it is definitely cheating. We have not been given enough information here about the circumstances of the students having the old tests.</p>

10

<p>I like the anonymous note idea. However, the cheaters will know that something is up when the see that the next few tests are suddenly different. I just don't see how I could this anonymously.</p>

<p>Another problem that I failed to mention was that the "main-cheater" is very well-liked by the teacher and is very good academically (#5 in the class, 2200+ SAT, etc.). He had a really bad test grade, therefore he started cheating. I'm not sure that my teacher will believe me because he might just think I'm making accusations due to my poor grades. If it comes down to my word vs. the "main-cheater's" word, the teacher will probably take his over mine.</p>

11

<p>I agree that it's really naive of the teacher to use the same tests - for my AP Chem class, the teacher would never let us have our tests back. (If we wanted to check answers, we had to do it with her, after school.) I'd probably talk to a GC about it, but make sure that it's kept confidential, and under no circumstances tell your friends what you did and just deny all connection...</p>

12

<p>Do you feel that there is a teacher or a GC that you could talk with that would keep everything confidential? If so, perhaps you could ask them just to tell the teacher that there are copies of the old tests being circulated--you wouldn't have to name names of the students involved. If the teacher just made up new tests, the problem would be solved and the teacher would have a good idea of who had been involved based on the change in performances. This scenario doesn't "punish" the cheaters, but does stop it.</p>

13

<p>As I have said before, I would love to tell the teacher anonymously, but the class will probably discover that he was informed due to the change in the tests. When they do, they'll know it is me. There is almost no way around this. </p>

<p>As for the GC idea, my GC acts as a sub when the math teacher is out. He was actually the one who caught the one kid cheating. Guess what he did about it. Nothing at all. He didn't even tell the math teacher when he returned the next day.</p>

14

<p>I went through the exact same situation in college and the teacher told me using old tests to study was perfectly acceptable. I consider it to be cheating when it's the exact same test word for word and not everyone in the class has equal access to the materials. I was made to feel like a tattle tale and let it go. I would expect that your teacher is probably aware that his old tests are floating around and doesn't care. Admistration or a curriculum supervisor may be the way to go.</p>

15

<p>It's still a violation of academic integrity for the students to do this, because they are not correctly representing themselves and their work. That is, the students can reason from comments that the teacher makes that he believes that they know how to apply the material in general, when actually the have merely memorized the answers off old tests. It wasn't wrong of them to look at old tests as a study guide, but as soon as they saw the test that they were given and realized that it was exactly the test they had studied from they should have told the teacher about the situation.</p>

16

<p>When teachers use the same tests, year in and out, it is a problem. Whether it is cheating or not, he should be told that some of the tests are circulating. I am not big on anonymous notes, but in this case it might be wise to send him one just alerting him of the situation. </p>

<p>I remember one year, I found out that some parents in middle school had obtained the teacher's edition of a math book which had copies and answers to the suggested tests that accompanied it. Unfortunately, there are cheaters everywhere. I let the teacher know that the tests and answers were circulating (not anonymously) but he did not do anything about it, after telling me he would look into the matter. Too lazy to make up his own test questions.</p>

17

<p>I agree with the above - that it is not ethical to memorize the answers to old test if they cannot actually do the work - but also feel the teacher is being lazy not to go to the effort to make up new tests if he let the old tests out of his hands.</p>

18

<p>Again, another good idea with a flaw. There is really a lot working against me here, much more than I can convey in this thread. This particular teacher has been around for over 40 years!!! There is no way that he would change his curriculm or policies after this much time. </p>

<p>I personally don't see how spreading answers to a test is not cheating. It is not like the kids are using the tests to learn because they are still clueless when we go over material in class. My brother is in 7th grade and is now taking the same science tests that I took 5 years ago. I have some of my old tests floating around, but I hide them from him because I want him to earn his grades.</p>

19

<p>Well, if you were to tell your parents and THEY were to send an anonymous note to the teacher and you made sure they understood your name were not to be involved then you could honestly tell your friends if they ask, that you didn't turn them in. Do other kids know this is going on who are not cheating also? If so, they may suspect you but they can never prove it.</p>

20

<p>Yes, other kids who cheat know that this is going on. The whole class knows what's going on, therefore there is another problem. As I said before, I would rather not involve my parents because they will surely report the cheating without hesitation. They don't understand the whole situation. It is my academic career at stake, not theirs.</p>