@PartyNextDoor, so, then you think it’s ok for all but the best students to cheat? Because things are harder for them also.
@PartyNextDoor It doesn’t matter where you come from, you still did something wrong. Just because I can empathize with someone’s situation doesn’t make what they do any less wrong.
@PartyNextDoor: No, you’re misreading the literature, or at least its implications. I’m not contesting that early childhood is where you see the most rapid brain development and learning occur*—the literature is quite clear on that. What I’m taking issue with is your claim that someone’s behaviors and outlook on the world are set in stone in early (or even middle) childhood—that used to be the working assumption maybe a half century or even three decades ago, but it’s been shown to be completely unsupportable by the actual facts of human behavior.
Seriously, I work in (a specific facet of) late-adulthood learning and related behavioral changes. I actually do know what I’m talking about here.
- Barring certain pathologies and extremely outlying social circumstances (e.g., certain forms of abuse). Those are rare, though, and so can be abstracted away from for the purposes of this discussion.
Do you guys think that genetics and upbringing determines who someone becomes?
And yet, the answer to the original question about whether or not cheating is right or wrong? Still wrong.
@PartyNextDoor Why do you assume that poor students even need to cheat? I’ve been cheated off of by rich and poor kids alike. It’s just a matter of personality and character, in my opinion. When you cheat you STEAL someone’s precious effort and time to lazily claim as your own. You said that “Coming from a poor, stressful background creates conditions that are conducive to immorality.”, but affluent people are just as, if not more, likely to possess what you call “immoral behavior.” You might not see this in crime reports because it shows conviction and not actual offence rates. Having a nice lawyer will allow you to get away with anything. Just look at Ethan Couch. My belief is that cheating is still wrong in almost all situations.
@PartyNextDoor @Hamlon and anyone else who has an idea…
While I value statistics and facts, I feel like the issue of morality is not best represented by statistics. Is there a way to quantify morality to gather statistics from? Also, I see the facts on development and behavior, but I’m not sure I have seen a statistic regarding the correlation between income and morality. There are poor people who have high morals and those who don’t, just as there are wealthy people who have low morals. If we were to look at income as a factor for morality, how can we justify the immorality of a wealthy person? This can’t be an anomaly, as there are plenty of immoral wealthy people. I personally don’t see how morality can be linked to income, does anyone have an idea?