Not sure where to post this, so please excuse if not the right place. My 8th grader has informed me that there is some rampant cheating going on at her middle school, of which she is quite upset about. Obviously she feels as thought it is quite unfair and wants to tell someone. Basically, there are copies of certain tests that students are getting their hands on, which are being circulated around. Apparently, in one class, students have had copies of EVERY SINGLE TEST this year. As a result, the students getting this information are receiving As on all the tests. She actually had 2 girls pretty much admit this today (not sure if it was told directly to her or if she was standing nearby when it was said) and they spoke how they asked another student to get them the copies of the test. I am not shocked that this goes on, I think it is a symptom of a much larger problem (competition to be the best and get perfect SATs and all) but I feel bad for my daughter. Both my children are rule followers and my daughter really feels the injustice of this. I told her it will even out eventually, and that these “gifted” children (apparently it is the gifted kids doing the cheating, how ironic) can’t possibly survive high school. Our feeder HS is known to be quite competitive, however, having one child already through the ranks, I know for a fact these kids will crash and burn should they try the same cheating tactics, especially in the honors and AP classes. My daughter wants to tell someone; I am more in favor for letting the natural order of things play out. I told her yes, it will catch up to them, maybe not now, maybe not in a year. You can’t cheat at life, and there will come a time when all the cheating will have a negative effect. But is this really the right thing to do? Basically keep our mouths closed? If it got out she snitched, well, she’d be forever labeled a snitch. Do I really want that? Should I make an anonymous call? I really don’t know what to do. I am very happy she is mad about this and is not one of the ones cheating. Not an easy situation. Thanks for listening.
If it’s that rampant, I struggle to understand how the schools wouldn’t know already, especially if it’s a bunch of middle schoolers.
Someone cheated off of me in ninth grade by sitting directly in front of me, turning around 180 degrees in her chair, and blatantly staring at my paper. Teacher didn’t notice.
I would not be surprised if the school doesn’t know about this.
This is a tough situation. It is not an idle worry that a kid who reports cheating might be ostracized, especially in middle school.
I would be concerned that the teachers are cheating by reusing the same tests every year so that the cheaters can easily use the old ones to cheat.
Note that even students who did not intend to cheat may have looked at an older sibling’s returned and graded tests to get an idea of what the tests would be like.
I might take the approach of letting the teacher know what is going on without mentioning any names… its not snitching- it’s an opportunity to help this teacher think about academic integrity and what his/her role is as an educator.
I’m a current college student, but when I was in 8th grade, one of the girls in my geometry class stole a copy of an algebra test and distributed it to the students taking algebra (our math teacher taught both classes). Apparently about 1/4 of the 8th grade knew about it (I was not one of them), but only 3 people came forward and told the teacher that this had happened. Our teacher was furious at the student who stole the test, but she was even more heartbroken and saddened that only 3 people came forward. She said that everyone who knew about it and didn’t report it was just as guilty.
Your daughter really needs to tell the teacher. I’m sure the teacher will take care to make sure no one knows who informed them of the cheating.
At our school, the first section to take a test would copy the test and distribute it. Ours was a working class school and the kids had an ethos of kids versus administration and winning against the system was actually seen as morally righteous. One of my kids explained this dynamic to me and I could see that it was moral code of sorts, if not the one the adults wanted. Much of the work was also seen as silly to the kids, so the argument that cheating interfered with learning didn’t have much effect.
I would, with my kid’s permission, talk to a trusted person within the school system about this. This kind of behavior may become habitual and result in dire consequences later, such as expulsion from college. However, in my opinion, it should not be addressed with knee-jerk penalties. It reflects a deficiency in the environment. In other words, it is a symptom of a deeper problem.
Stress and competition should be addressed. Kids should be reminded of why they are in school, for learning not grades. And a school should do everything it can to foster trust between faculty, and kids. Education on why cheating is wrong and why it is counterproductive would help, but with a positive tone.
This is a huge problem everywhere. Our culture has become more and more about the end not the means, the result not the process, college admissions versus actual learning. The kids are reflecting our culture back at us 
An entire (27 kids) IB senior language class got last semester’s final ahead of time at my school. No one told the teacher, but they found out. Trust me, the students were much more worried about the consequences than who told.
That said, will most of these kids go to the same high school together? This is a problem that is only going to get worse as classes get harder.
I wish I could be as confident that the kid whose mom tells won’t suffer consequences from the other kids. I’m sorry to say that I have observed situations in which this was not how it worked out. I think it’s a difficult dilemma.
If it is as rampant as you believe, I would certainly send an anonymous note to the teacher and explain what you heard was going on. I would even say I didn’t want to sign my name as there could be repercussions to my kid. Or set up a new email account which has no name associated with it and email the teacher (but put the class and section in the title line so the teacher will not think it is spam).
I would be surprised that kids have copies of ALL the tests and nobody has said anything to the teacher or the counselor. How did they get the tests? Are they copies of past years tests being recycled among some kids? If so, not so much cheating as bad on the teacher for re-using old tests. Not sure it is cheating to look at last years test in the same class to study from. Some of my kid’s teacher would not let kids keep class finals, but only let them have a look at them.
@wizardly66 - Middle school …pfft… You will see parents cheating for EC in a high school and your head will spin!
Sadly, many teachers are not at all discreet. I know this from multiple personal experiences. I would not go forward to a teacher or the administration to report cheating, or have my child do so, unless my child was prepared for everyone to know that we were the ones who did so. I suspect that if cheating is as rampant as the OP describes, the school knows about it.
My DDs are rule followers too. I don’t feel bad for them.
The cheaters are only cheating themselves (cliché, but true.)
In middle school, there was a teacher who gave a test that included a true/false section. The morning sections predictably chattered at lunch time that all of the answers were false. The test the teacher gave to the afternoon sections had a slightly altered set of true/false questions whose answers were all true.
Unfortunately, the culture of laziness on the part of test writers goes beyond a few middle and high school teachers. The College Board regularly reuses SATs, for example.
@Hunt - My problem exactly. She will be with these same kids in high school, and bad news has a way of following a person. I’m all for whistle-blowing, when the whisle-blower is an adult and can fully understand the repercussions of their actions. I almost feel as though she’s too emotional and angry to realize that if she speaks out and it gets out it was her, she’s toast. I’ve seen it happen way too often. Such a conundrum…
@mom2and - The tests are current tests that are being placed in the hands of students, for whatever reasons, to make copies. Obviously a poor choice on the school’s part. My daughter actually circumvented the process the other day and made sure copying didn’t happen lol.
I need to add that the copying is not supposed to be for the students obviously. I think its for other teachers maybe? Either way, it’s obvious the students shouldn’t be doing the copying.
@lisaNCstate - yeah, I know it happens at the HS, my older daughter is a senior. She did tell me its not nearly as bad.