Transcript Forgery Concerns (Serious Inquiry)

Parents Forum
61

<p>FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their children's education records. These rights transfer to the student when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level. Students to whom the rights have transferred are "eligible students."</p>

<p>Op may not know as to whether or not the kid confessed to the school. However, it does not stop him from expressing his concerns and talking to the facts (especially if he has a copy of the "forged transcript"). Since this would be a serious allegation that compromises the academic integrity of the school, there would be an investigation.</p>

<p>In addition, if the OP knows what happened, I am willing to bet $ to donuts that someone else knows also. Part of me would just wait until April 1 when the admissions decsions come out. The minute this person gets accepted into a school and at the same time an honest person is waitlisted or worse, denied admisssions, everythting is going to hit the fan as there is no honor among theives.</p>

62

<p>
[quote]
FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their children's education records. These rights transfer to the student when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level. Students to whom the rights have transferred are "eligible students."

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Ummm....there is more to FERPA than the above. It's also about who else can access the records besides the parents, which is what is applicable in the discussed example of the OP finding out what happens after the school finds out. </p>

<p>Family</a> Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)</p>

<p>"Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student's education record. However, FERPA allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to the following parties or under the following conditions (34 CFR § 99.31):"</p>

63

<p>I find it interesting that the culprit confessed the whole scheme to the OP.</p>

<p>Does this mean he wants the OP to do something about it? Does he feel that whether or not he gets caught is now "out of his hands" since he told a responsible adult?</p>

64

<p>"I do not want him to have his life ruined over this."</p>

<p>I can't help but read this and think about how Eliot Spitzer just ruined his life.</p>

<p>Better this kid get caught over this now, and correct his moral compass now, than have it happen when he's 48 with a family and an important job. If he's caught now, his life won't be ruined. He'll still get into college -- perhaps he'll have to take a gap year, perhaps he'll have to go to community college. If he's smart, and learns to work, he'll get good grades, and no one in the future needs to know about this HS deception.</p>

<p>OTOH, if he gets away with this -- which could happen -- then he'll think he can get away with a lot more. And his crimes will get bigger.</p>

<p>By not reporting him, you are perhaps contributing to his ruining his life in the long run.</p>

<p>The excuse that the principal is tough is not a good one. Someone needs to throw the book at this kid, and if the principal will do it -- that's a good thing. </p>

<p>You can always report these things anonymously, I suppose. </p>

<p>I honestly don't know how I would handle this if I were in your shoes. I would be conflicted. But as an outsider looking in, I think this kid needs to be reported and learn a lesson that deception does not pay.</p>

65

<p>concerneddad, you say you don't want his life ruined. What do you want? What do you think appropriate consequences would be? What do you think would teach this kid a lasting lesson that cheating is wrong? What do you think would teach him that he's not above the law? Personally, I think the consequences for this sort of cheating should carry a pretty hefty consequence - at the very least a year off to think about what he's done.</p>

66

<p>I can easily believe that the OP is exactly who he says he is.</p>

<p>Concerned dad, I feel for you. This is awful, the whole situation is awful. Please don't make it worse by doing nothing, as some have suggested. You must tell the young man that he has to 'fess up. You might offer to go with him to be there when he tells his dad; he would probably appreciate the support, and even if he doesn't, his dad is likely to.</p>

<p>Anticipate having a long conversation with his dad at some point after that, and yes, I think the school must be notified.</p>

<p>Beyond that, you cannot control what repercussions there might be from this. The student brought this on himself, and must deal with the consequences, whatever they may be. Having the boy come clean now will certainly lessen whatever consequences there are, however bad they are. Hiding this will make the consequences worse in the future.</p>

67

<p>Forging a transcript is like having an eating disorder? And I'm supposed to believe you are an adult friend of this teen?</p>

<p>No it's not like an eating disorder. The first being unethical behavior potentially worthy of significant punishment, the second being a mental disorder that requires treatment. The first being an act that could benefit oneself at other's expense, the second being a disorder that harms and may be lethal to the one with the disorder. </p>

<p>No doubt every person ever caught for cheating/forging/fraud has claimed 'pressure made him/her do it'. That is not remotely a justification. Lots of kids are under pressure; relatively few would have so little in the way of a moral compass to even <em>think</em> that forgery was a way to deal with it. </p>

<p>Why it doesn't ring true: </p>

<p>You know him well enough to have seen his forged transcript and know his SAT score by heart, yet required a transcript to work at your shop. </p>

<p>And when you confront him, he goes into elaborate detail regarding his forgery skills. Why would he do that? </p>

<p>You seem extremely involved and anxious about the situation, but for some reason do not feel this should be the role of his parents to be this involved. </p>

<p>You seem almost entirely focused on details as they pertain to how much he is likely to get caught and the consequences, rather than on the moral issues before you. It seems your only concern is minimizing consequences for the teen rather than doing the right thing.</p>

68

<p>I previously stated I would not report this to the school, if I were OP. Here is why (aside from the fact that OP will have no evidence to present other than his own story): If the high school investigates and determines that this kid did, in fact, "steal" the transcript or commit fraud on the school, he will likely be expelled. Then he will kiss his chances of a decent college education good-bye anyway. OP must be willing to live with this consequence.</p>

<p>If the boy denies the fraud, and the school is unable to prove any misdeed by the boy, then the OP may potentially have to face charges of libel and slander (although I'd be surprised if the lucky boy and his family would go this far - but you never know).</p>

69

<p>I'd be inclined to talk to the son to tell his father, and offer to be present if the boy wants that support. From the outset, outline the real pathway the boy should take: withdraw applications, plan on a gap year, try next year and so on. The boy might panic if he thinks there's no pathway out of this, but there is. It'll just take a year. </p>

<p>If that son-father conversationdoesn't happen within a quick timeframe, then tell the father what you know without the boy's presence.</p>

<p>I'd put it all back in the father's hands because that's the only one who can possibly guide the son to do the right thing, take the gap year, continue the emotional support as they attempt to fix the boy's moral compass.</p>

<p>If the father has no such compass himself, or has a failure of nerve to act and covers up for his son, then you have carried out your responsibility to be the friend to the father and try to correct the situation. You'll have executed your own moral responsibility.</p>

<p>If the father allows the boy to proceed dishonestly to the next steps of his life, then a pox on both their houses. Eventually the boy WILL trip up hugely but that won't be your fault any more. You might then drop the dad's friendship, instead of him dropping (or suing?) you, because you'll know the dad's true colors by then. That's your decision for later, if the dad chooses to cover up for the boy. I hope not, but you never know. </p>

<p>I can't see going directly to the school in lieu of the boy or father. You can't rescue every applicant in the school from being competed with falsely by this cunning boy. That's just too much to fix. IF, however, you succeed in getting the son/father to do the right thing themselves, you WILL have pulled him out of the false competition so indirectly rescue the other students who were honest. It's the most likely way to succeed, I believe, through the father so it could indeed rescue the other students from the boy's dishonesty in this school year.</p>

<p>I'd deal with the boy and dad, and then that's it.</p>

70

<p>OP,</p>

<p>There was nothing condescending about my statement that owners of machining workshops don't generally care about transcripts. You referred to yourself as the owner of a machining workshop, and the people I know with such businesses care about Auto-Cad skills, not high school grades.</p>

<p>You are incorrect in thinking I would do the same in your position to avoid taking "uninformed action that could jepordize this kid's future." The kid jeopardized his own future and has made you part of his dishonest activities. I wouldn't cut a kid like that any slack. It's better for him to learn the hard lesson now than when his dishonesty could earn him jail time.</p>

<p>You may be offended by my suggestion that you are misrepresenting yourself, but any adult who wants advice on how to help a cheater avoid punishment offends my sensibilities, as well as the sensibilities of most people who post on this forum.</p>

71

<p>I have just this year started doing Alum interviews, and have read as kids complain again and again that my Alma Mater has requested transcripts to be sent from their HS AGAIN...and AGAIN...perhaps this is one way colleges test for valid information...I would think that at the competitive level schools the OP's friend's son must be applying to, the fraud will come out...</p>

<p>and most schools at this level will contact the HS GC and let them know soemthing is amiss...</p>

<p>so, while the OP should advice the student to come clean to both parent and schools sent the fraudulent transcript, I doubt the kid is going to be heading to HYP in any case...</p>

72

<p>I believe the OP, mainly because I faced a similar situation last year and had all sorts of stewing about it.</p>

<p>Here's what I found out and what I recommend:</p>

<p>I talked to a lawyer and he said that I needed to be extremely careful reporting someone unless I had actual knowledge or evidence of a crime, i.e., saw it happen. Being told something was not enough to protect me from being sued because it would just be their word against mine. This is pretty frustrating, since my instinctual response is to go to the authorities, but that's the way things are.</p>

<p>I think what I would do (and what I did) is to go to the parent, privately and with lots of voiced love, concern and hesitations, and tell them what I had been told, the extreme consequences likely to follow, and some suggestions of how it might be dealt with.</p>

<p>I would hesitate to threaten the student if they didn't tell because of the possibility of suicide. It's hard to be rational when you are 18 and see the world crashing in. If you have a great relationship with the student and he doesn't with his parents, though, you may be able to talk to him seriously enough to bring him to repentance and help him to approach his parent. </p>

<p>I would suggest to the parent that the student immediately withdraw his applications from all colleges and either apply honestly to other colleges (there are some still accepting applications and at this point, dream colleges are out anyway - he will need to stay away forever from the schools he's applied to fraudulently) or take a gap year.</p>

<p>There are several problems, though:</p>

<p>The parent may hit the roof and be angry at you. This is what happened to me. I thought the relationship was over for good, but lately, my friend has made some overtures ignoring the whole thing. I'm glad I told her regardless, though, I couldn't have lived with myself otherwise. I kept thinking, what if one of my friends knew my child was in a dangerous situation and hadn't told me!</p>

<p>The parent may be complicit -- what then? What if your friend has been aware of this? Well, I guess it's better to know if your friend is like that. As to how to handle it if the parent intends to do nothing, ouch! That's tough! I'm not sure because of the legal situation above. I guess it depends on how much you <em>know</em>. </p>

<p>The student may still be rebellious and have a rotten character even after being caught. At least you tried, though...</p>

<p>It's not a pretty situation and I don't envy you at all. I think it is imperative for this kid's future that he get caught by somebody and quick before he ends up in the penitentiary, though. It's not much of a step to forging other documents...</p>

<p>Let us know what happens.</p>

73

<p>In addition to suggesting academic remedies to the dad, I'd suggest he take the boy to meet a prison superintendent at a federal prison, where white collar criminals have committed fraud in high level positions. The warden might be able to identify some who could meet with the boy and describe how life could be a lot worse if he doesn't figure this out at age l7. This can all be arranged confidentially.</p>

74

<p>That's a pretty good idea, paying3tuitions. I think that would be a valuable wake-up call.</p>

75

<p>Hasn't the OP got evidence of the crime? All he has to do is bring the transcript he was given to the high school and ask if it's the same as the one they would give out.</p>

76

<p>The OP has evidence of the cheating, and the student has admitted the cheating to the OP, but the OP wants to protect the student from punishment. </p>

<p>This was not a spur-of-the-moment lapse in judgment but rather a complex effort i.e. watermark, etc. to cheat. The cheater had many opportunities over an extended period of time to opt not to continue with his transcript fabrication. I don't think such an individual will learn anything without negative repercussions from his effort. </p>

<p>If the OP has a moral compass he will have declined to offer the student the job for which false transcripts were used. Since the OP and the student's father are friends, the father of the cheater would likely ask his son and/or the OP about the lack of a job offer and the purpose of this thread would be moot. The OP posting here suggests that the OP rewarded the student's cheating with a job and is now worried about colleges finding out about the student's deception. I think most people who post on this forum would hope the cheater is caught, and any rewards i.e. admissions offers resulting from his fabricated transcript rescinded.</p>

77

<p>^^^^^^^^^
A voice of reason.</p>

78

<p>How about: caught, punished and rehabilitated.</p>

<p>There are negative repercussions if he withdraws all applications, can't go to the place he imagines, and instead goes to some much lesser place that will accept the actual/original mediocre grades he earned. </p>

<p>If he doesn't want that, he can go to earn some real grades somewhere else with his brainiac 23xx SAT potential before he tries to reapply to other very competitive schools (no more of the ones he's already applied to; that's gone forever). </p>

<p>If the father takes this as seriously as he should, the boy will also be required to do other community service, visit a prison, whatever the father dreams up to try to straighten the boy out. The boy should be the father's slave for the make-up year. </p>

<p>He'll have to sweat whenever any of his peers ask him whatever happened to those applications (which he quietly withdrew).</p>

<p>He has a chance to be rehabilitated. And the above is punishment; it's just not a permanent destruction of his life forever.</p>

<p>When someone is tried in court and sent to jail, it has three goals:
to punish/isolate
to rehabilitate/retrain for future new paths
to send a message to society that the crime was unacceptable (deter others). </p>

<p>Handling this quietly within a family accomplishes the first two, but not the third. Considering his age, however, I'd prefer the first two be deeply accomplished and forget about the third. JMO.</p>

79

<p>Concerneddad--A week is too long. Time is of the essence on this. It is important that he withdraw his applications before they are acted on.</p>

<p>I agree with paying 3 about the goals here. I also agree about goal three being relatively less important. I would think it sufficient if the boy told his parents, and withdrew his fraudulent applications. Telling his school would be ideal, but is not perhaps strictly necessary.</p>

80

<p>I would suggest: </p>

<p>1) The student should quietly withdraw all the applications that were accompanied by the fraudulent transcript.</p>

<p>2) The student could try to apply to colleges this year that still take applications if there are any colleges he wants to attend.</p>

<p>3) If not, the student should take a year off, do some volunteer work or gain some life experience, and then re-apply next year with the correct transcripts, to other good schools.</p>

<p>4) I would tell the student that if he did not withdraw those applications, I would report his fraud to the schools. </p>

<p>This would avert long term negative consequences, yet give the student one years' time-out to reflect on and atone for his mistake.</p>