<p>My friends and I have a problem which has been going on since the start of school.</p>
<p>We are in all AP classes, do quite well, however, one of the girls that was in regular classes till last year, now in AP Literature, Calc, US GOvernment and AP Physics with us, has been cheating ever since the start of school. AP Literature teacher gave a pop quiz the other day, this girl has all the spark notes/cheat sheets on her desk under the exam out of direct view of the teacher. Thge highest grade on the exam was a 75, however, cheater girl got a 90, as the teacher was praising how "well" she did, and the rest of the class KNOWS she cheats, she was snickering at the reaming we got from the teacher, made the rest of us almost balistic. </p>
<p>At first back in September and October, we were pretty shocked we saw her doing it, now we are quite annoyed and fed up with it. We all study hard, do the best we can, yet this person has out right cheated on every single quiz and exam that is given. Today we saw her writing Physics formulas on her wrist for an exam later in the day.A kid asked her what she was doing and she had no problem saying, I have a physics exam later today, need my little cheat sheet. It isn;t just one class it is EVERY SINGLE EXAM AP calc, AP Physiscs, AP Lit etc.</p>
<p>We are all pretty much on the same page about it, but not sure what we shoudl do, if anything, Im really friendly with my old english teacher and half tempted to ask her what to do about it, one of my friends wants to write a letter and get the rest of the kids to sign it, but not sure if this is the right thing or leave it alone. It isnt fair to the rest of us, any suggestions?</p>
<p>I think you should talk with your previous English teacher or a guidance counselor Unfortunately, as I'm sure you know, high school kids can get pretty ugly when it comes to "snitches"....but I do believe that you do need to do something---if she's setting the curve, it is an impact to you directly.
Life isn't fair, but if the teachers of the classes can be alerted to keep a closer eye on her, she'll probably be "found out" without it being publicized that you did anything (i.e. I wouldn't tell other students that I either went to the previous teacher or guidance counselor). You could always write an "anonymous" letter to the guidance counselor or assistant principal....</p>
<p>WHat might happen if you all went to her together and said you don't find it acceptable. Like an intervention. And that if she doesn't stop, then you'll consider going to the adults. Offer to tutor her or give her some help so she'll feel able to handle it on her own. Point out that she won't be able to cheat at the AP exams, so her high grades on the h.s. courses won't make sense against consistent poor showings on the May AP exams, one after the other. The college admissions people will figure it out. What's her long-run wish? If it's to get into colleges, she won't make it this way.</p>
<p>Another approach is: does she have a best friend? Try to reason with her through the best friend.</p>
<p>EDIT: realistically, you don't "have" to offer to tutor her, nor do you have the time or responsibility. But you might offer to group study with her, or suggest she ask her parents to engage a tutor to help her learn to study the material better herself.</p>
<p>The girl is shameless and without remorse. She is screwing you all, and you should feel no obligation to assist her in continuing to do so. I'd drop a dime on her (write an anonymous letter to the teacher, outlining ALL that you know), so the her duplicity may be dragged out into the open, and she might be made to face the consequences of such dishonorable actions.</p>
<p>From what I heard, her best friend did call her on it already, but she didn't stop. </p>
<p>Usually this stuff doesn't bother me at all, now, after the nut AP Literature teacher calling us all stupid, this girl only getting better grades and snickering at us does it p.. us off</p>
<p>Anyway, it explains the low SAT grades she got, now it makes sense</p>
<p>Does your school have an "honor code"? If so, what does the code say about what to do when you observe cheating? It's something to refer your actions back onto, rather than just try to figure out what to do by your own selves.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, this cheating may be hard to prove to the teachers and administration. One is not a thief until s/he is caught in the act, you know. Innocent until proven otherwise... You mentioned her low SATs. Without good test scores she will not be a viable candidate for admission at highly-ranked schools no matter how great her grades might be. I believe there is such a thing as karma. So when your cheater friend will be piling rejection letters on her kitchen table, you guys will be happily walking around in your college shirts and making shopping lists for dorm stuff. Even if she doesn't get punished for her unethical behavior now, she will pay for it later. Trust me.</p>
<p>Yes, but if she is setting the curve in AP classes, she's affecting others....it could mean a difference between an A and a B in an AP class. I agree that she will pay for it later, but the other students are paying for it now.</p>
<p>My mom said essentially the same things you all have said, she said it will come back at her at some point, that until she is caught in the act, it will probably continue, and she may never get caught. </p>
<p>My aunts good friend is the other AP Lit teacher, really cool teacher, we see him all the time at my aunts house, my mom said she would talk to him if we wanted but sort of left it up to us. My mom said maybe if she just mentioned what the kids have seen her do, they might put up the radar to see it happen themselves.</p>
<p>That sounds like a good first step, having it come from your mom in a "friendly" setting, to a teacher who is a peer of one of the teachers involved. Let us know what happens.</p>
<p>"Unfortunately, this cheating may be hard to prove to the teachers and administration."</p>
<p>Really...?</p>
<p>"Literature teacher gave a pop quiz the other day, this girl has all the spark notes/cheat sheets on her desk under the exam out of direct view of the teacher."</p>
<p>"Today we saw her writing Physics formulas on her wrist for an exam later in the day.A kid asked her what she was doing and she had no problem saying, I have a physics exam later today, need my little cheat sheet."</p>
<p>Seems to me this girl is arrogant enough, and stupid enough to believe there's no way she will get caught. But Jeez, look at unsophisticated way in which she goes about it! All it would take would be for the teacher to be made aware (unbeknownst to her) of her methods, and what to look out for. If she cheats on virtually every test, how hard really would it be to catch her in the act if the teachers have been given the head's up? This isn't rocket science.</p>
<p>"I believe there is such a thing as karma. So when your cheater friend will be piling rejection letters on her kitchen table, you guys will be happily walking around in your college shirts and making shopping lists for dorm stuff. Even if she doesn't get punished for her unethical behavior now, she will pay for it later. Trust me."</p>
<p>In my view, "Karma" just isn't good enough. When people remain silent in the knowledge that a great injustice is occurring, they're as good as complicit in that injustice. That's how Enron got to be the economic atrocity that it became for thousands of workers and retirees. Silence is consent.</p>
<p>Go to your GC, and say what you said here...say that you don't want to publically out the girl, and because of where she sits, etc, she has found it easy to cheat, and you just want to give the teacher a heads up, so that the teacher can aware- </p>
<p>The GC can then quietly let the teacher know, so next tests, teacher will pay extra attention</p>
<p>One of two things will happen- she will get caught if she continues to cheat, or she will see that she is being more closely monitored, and will stop cheating and her grades will show it....</p>
<p>If you have a decent GC< they won't inform anyone who told them about the cheating....you aren't making public accusations, you aren't asking for changes to score because of the cheater and the curve, etc...any decent GC will know how to handle this without sharing who told the GC...</p>
<p>If a teacher is tipped off that cheating is happening, he/she can then catch the cheater. I've known teachers who were notified that a student was cheating and deliberately set out to catch the kid. In your case, you're lucky that your whole group seems to be on the same page. You don't really need to worry about reprisals. What is stopping you from notifying the teacher or the guidance counselor? If you have the teacher's e-mail address, you could e-mail her privately with your concerns. Tell her what she should be on the lookout for and ask her not to reveal the source. I understand the whole "snitch" mentality and so forth, but, honestly, students enable a cheater when they say or do nothing. You become complicit in the student's cheating. If you want to give the student one more chance, you could all say to her, "Here is the deal. You have a choice to make. You can stop cheating now and we won't say anything. But if you choose to continue, then we will. The choice is yours but know this: we will not allow you to dishonestly set the curve anymore." Cheating is rampant in our educational institutions but unless students set their minds to change the culture, it will only get worse.</p>
<p>"I believe there is such a thing as karma. So when your cheater friend will be piling rejection letters on her kitchen table, you guys will be happily walking around in your college shirts and making shopping lists for dorm stuff. Even if she doesn't get punished for her unethical behavior now, she will pay for it later. Trust me."</p>
<p>I don't buy that. It happens sometimes. But it also happens that the class valedictorian cheated his way to that spot and everyone knew it. It often happens that kids who cheat do get into top schools while those who did not, don't. I've seen it happen at our high school.</p>
<p>poetsheart, I agree with your points, but unfortunately, this is high school where "snitches" and "ratting on your peers" are in general not appreciated. It is even possible that the teacher might think that the rest of the loser class is just jealous of this girls' achievements and "hard work" (I'm just speculating).</p>
<p>However, if a whole bunch of you guys go to the teacher and complain, s/he might listen. What if you propose to the teacher to administer a bunch of small random tests on the material from the past? Without warnings, of course. Without those little cheatsheets this girl's grade will be toast.</p>
<p>mimk6, I'm not trying to defend the cheater, but fast forward a few years, and no one will remember who was valedictorian or who was not. If one tries to cheat at work, the consequences will be much harsher than a bad grade.</p>
<p>honestly, it was one of those things, that it really bothers you, but until you find out how much others are bothered by it also that you feel saying nothing is worse than saying something. That and how she was sort of laughing at us is what tipped things into the informing someone mode for us.</p>
<p>So samiamy, what did you decide to do? I sounds like you talked it out with the others in your class who are quite rightly outraged by this girl's cheating. Did you all reach a concensus?</p>