is this cheating? am i in deep?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>ok i had a lab report due and my partner IMs me late at night after he just got home from work at like 10 asking me about the lab report. eventually i just send it to him and specifically say "dude like don't copy it just use my ideas." i've sent this kid a lot of my papers before and he never copied them or anything and hes pretty smart so i trusted him. so today we get it back and we both get "see me" on the report. my teacher, who i like and "had" respect for me up to this point, points out how similar the lab reports are. i didn't really get to read his entire lab so i don't know how bad it is. my partner said to my teacher that i told him ideas for the conclusion and theory over AIM. my teacher doesn't care and says she's going to give our reports to an "outside source" without our names to confirm her "impressions." </p>

<p>basically my friend paraphrased my lab report. he refuses to tell her that i sent him my lab report, and i don't want to blatantly rat him out cause he is my friend. </p>

<p>he said that if it gets bad he will admit to everything. she didn't say what she was going to do but i'm going to assume that she is going to give us both 0, which ****es me off. i got a 30/35 and my current grade is an A- and a 0 would bring me to failing. </p>

<p>i'm really ****ed off at my friend, my teacher, school, and myself. what do you guys think? am i screwed? am i really in the wrong? i was just trying to help a friend out. </p>

<p>the class is AP chem and it's also the hardest class in the school. and i'm currently a senior who's applying to top schools... i feel like this could ruin my grade and my chances at some schools.</p>

2

<p>If she decides to give you guys zeros, tell her the truth, if it's a couple of points don't rat out your friend...</p>

3

<p>yeah i know. but i think even if told her the truth she would still me give a 0, because she so against cheating... so lame.</p>

4

<p>I don't know about in High School but in college (certainly my daughter's college) the academic integrity policies consider the person giving someone information to be committing as serious an infraction as the one receiving the information. So even if you do admit to having sent the information to your friend you may not be out of trouble.</p>

<p>Yes you are in the wrong. There is nothing lame about the teacher being against cheating, and you are completely unjustified in being mad at the teacher or our school. They have done nothing wrong. But, yes, be mad at yourself and at your friend. It was unfair of him to put you in this spot and you made a poor choice in sending him the report. But in the end only you made the decision so you need to take responsibility for it. It sounds like you will end up having to fess up to the teacher. When that happens, take responsibility for your own actions and don't say or imply it is "lame" or that they are in the wrong. That attitude will convey that you have learned nothing from the situation and will not encourage any leniency.</p>

<p>In many colleges such an action can cause an automatic F in the whole course. At my daughter's school the F would have a notation next to it saying the F is for cheating. So remember this experience when you do go college.</p>

<p>I know it is tough when you have a 'friend' that expects you to help out in this way - my daughter had an ex b/f that would do the same thing at the last moment and put a real guilt trip on her. I reminded her that she could be as heavily penalized as he would be and she finally ended up avoiding contact when stuff was due because it put her in such a tough spot. It is wrong to put a friend in that position of risking their own academic career, but you have to be strong and say no.</p>

5

<p>but what's wrong with sending a friend my lab report for reference? how was i supposed to know he was going to paraphrase most of it? </p>

<p>we are allowed to share data and calculations... so what's wrong with sending him my report so it's easier to view the data and calculations? </p>

<p>you make me out to be some evil immoral person. </p>

<p>i hate rules and institutions that are out to get you. so many people have been brainwashed that "the rules" determine morality and what you "should" do. that's garbage. if my friend comes home late from work and is swamped, i'm going to help him out. school is such garbage. why the hell do i go to school? why do i go to school everyday to deal with this BS? ... living my life like a robot... to what? get a good job and make a lot of money or build a reputable "academic career." i'd rather make friends and enjoy my time with them then worry about if my LAME school is going to "penalize" me for collaboration. i refuse to conform ... i refuse to live like a dead man with no purpose in life just waiting for the next day. </p>

<p>i don't feel guilty; i haven't learned any lesson. i guess i really don't care if i get that 0.. oh well i have better things to think about... like if they're going to lock me up for my heinous offense.</p>

6

<p>^well aren't you the rebel... if you don't care, why did you start the thread sounding all worried?</p>

7

<p>Sending him your report blindly is like giving your friend your permission for him to do whatever he wants with your paper, be it cheat/copy/paraphrase, etc. Next time I would sit down with your friend if he wants to use your data. Make sure he gets just the information and nothing else.</p>

<p>I'm with swimcatsmom here; your friend should not have done that but you must place responsibility on yourself.</p>

8

<p>^ He did not make you out to be evil or immoral. </p>

<p>You did a stupid thing. The teacher is completely justified in giving you a 0. At my school, that's an automatic failure for the semester. </p>

<p>Get over yourself. If you come on here for advice, don't be surprised if people tell you what they really think. </p>

<p>Learn your lesson now so that when you grow-up, if you ever do, you won't get kicked out of college for plagiarism (which is becoming a standard punishment). </p>

<p>Not cheating is not "living like a robot". Rage against the system all you want, but ultimately nobody cares. To the "system" you are an insignificant little dot. The "system" doesn't want to screw you over, because in order to want to screw you over they would have to care about you. So get over it and move on. You made a mistake, accept it and try to fix it.</p>

9

<p>
[quote]
^well aren't you the rebel... if you don't care, why did you start the thread sounding all worried?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>because i've been brainwashed by society. high grades = great school = $$$$ = only way to happiness. right? </p>

<p>i'll take responsibility for sending my friend the lab report..... and i'll take the 0, but i refuse to admit i did anything wrong. i was just acting genuinely to a friend.</p>

<p>i feel like no one thinks for himself. everyone walks around afraid of the system and preoccupied with petty issues. like my parents who come home miserable, complaining about work, the traffic, how tired and busy they are. they live their lives overworking themselves, thinking happiness comes through money and long laborious hours. i know they love me, but i know for a fact that they never stop and think of a real purpose for their lives. maybe if they didn't care so much about work or meeting society's and everyone's expectations then they would be happy. the system forces us to suppress our genuine intentions, emotions, and our passions to a point that we have no real emotions and have nothing and are nothing, but "a little insignificant dot" as roman said.</p>

<p>f the system.</p>

10

<p>i like how you think ack!</p>

11

<p>"You gotta go for what you know
Make everybody see, in order to fight the powers that be
Lemme hear you say...
Fight the Power"
- Public Enemy</p>

12

<p>...I would just like to point out that at my school, this would be grounds for expulsion, especially if you try to deny it. At the very least, the person would be placed on academic probation for the rest of the term.</p>

13

<p>Ok then. Cheat your way through school, or just drop out since it doesn't matter. After college, make sure you don't overwork. In fact, don't work at all because money doesn't matter at all, does it? Why don't you just retire now. That will make you happy.</p>

<p>See where that gets you.</p>

<p>Whether you like the system or not, you have to follow it. Otherwise you will not survive. That's the bottom line.</p>

14

<p>I'm with ack27, although, sending the report would have been foolish; ultimately it is ** not ** his fault that his friend copied it. Since sharing data is allowed, I would not consider it cheating, as he did not tell his friend to copy it nor did he give him permission to do so....</p>

15

<p>I would like to say that at my school, which is an extremely competitive high school, most of my teachers would probably just make you redo it or give you a zero and that's it. Anyway, if you are going to help someone, just help with minor parts that they have difficulty with, do not send the entire thing.</p>

16

<p>I am against cheating, and I have sent/explained lab answers to my classmates before. My reason was that I am really helping them (which is not the same as cheating) to understand what is going on in the lab. It's no different than studying together before a test and helping each other to understand hard questions in the books. But I have to admit that sending your friend the entire lab is not the right thing to do. It's basically letting your friend to copy your lab than you actually take the time to help him. </p>

<p>The other thing is that aren't all high school labs are suppose to be similar in the first place? High school science labs (even at the AP level) are not complicated enough that they involve many controversial theories. They are just "it's because of <strong><em>(something everyone knows and accepts)</em></strong>", and there's usually only one right answer. Of course, I don't know what exactly you wrote about so... I guess I'm really not helping here with that.</p>

17

<p>It's not your fault; it's your friend's. He's an idiot for copying. Also, it's okay to help your friends. These people are not very intelligent as they can not differentiate cheating from helping a friend.</p>

18

<p>^ Helping a friend would be explaining the lab to them and helping them find the answers. </p>

<p>Cheating is sending them all of your work to let them do what they want with it.</p>

19

<p>
[quote]
Ok then. Cheat your way through school, or just drop out since it doesn't matter. After college, make sure you don't overwork. In fact, don't work at all because money doesn't matter at all, does it? Why don't you just retire now. That will make you happy.</p>

<p>See where that gets you.</p>

<p>Whether you like the system or not, you have to follow it. Otherwise you will not survive. That's the bottom line.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>just to clarify... i sent the lab report to my lab partner to help him out. i didn't copy any answers or information; therefore, that's not cheating. i would call it collaboration. i never condoned cheating and i don't consider this cheating so i don't know where the cheating attack came from. </p>

<p>anyways, i'm not going to drop out of school. rather, i'm going to pursue something i love, make some money, and enjoy my life. </p>

<p>
[quote]
.I would just like to point out that at my school, this would be grounds for expulsion, especially if you try to deny it. At the very least, the person would be placed on academic probation for the rest of the term.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>again, i sent my lab report to my lab partner. i don't think that's ground for expulsion. that's just ridiculous. </p>

<p>
[quote]
The other thing is that aren't all high school labs are suppose to be similar in the first place? High school science labs (even at the AP level) are not complicated enough that they involve many controversial theories. They are just "it's because of <strong><em>(something everyone knows and accepts)</em></strong>", and there's usually only one right answer. Of course, I don't know what exactly you wrote about so... I guess I'm really not helping here with that.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>he actually had a lot of his own stuff but you could tell he blatantly paraphrased a few of my sentences. </p>

<p>i agree that sending the lab report was foolish, but it was 10 30 and i wanted to go to bed and it was just... easier than explaining on AIM. i actually do this all the time. my friends go on retreat, or miss a few days of school and i send them papers, labs, homework. i just got unlucky. </p>

<p>my friend probably read my lab and was like "hmm that makes sense" and just typed what i wrote in a slightly different way. oh wellll. i'll keep you guys upadated haha</p>

20

<p>Oh man.
I can definitely understand. Sometimes the rules seem so ludicrous.</p>