I just got through (literally moments ago) a unique situation to me. In my years of teaching, this was my first time dealing with something like this, although I know its happened to others. What's your opinion on the subject?
Here's the scenario - I gave an assignment to my 9th grade Earth Science class on Wednesday and told them to finish it for homework. Friday came and went and I forgot to collect the assignment, instead I put in a video and worked with a pair of my chemistry kids to prepare them for a test that they were to take the next period. I figured that I would collect it on Monday - something usual for my class (I often forget to collect assignments the day that they are due).
So its 7pm on a Saturday night and I'm chillin' on the sofa watching tv when a knock comes at the door. I open it to find one of my 9th graders standing there - trembling and on the verge of tears, let's call her April. She stammers out that she has something to tell me about what happened in school on Friday and I invite her in. I can hear some of you already - "Never invite a student into your house! Especially a female student! Oh my God, you're going to get accused of so many things!". I couldn't leave her standing on my doorstep like that, she was an emotional wreck at the moment and it would have been cruel of me to have her expose her crime while standing in a doorway.
April came in and the tears started to flow. She was sorry for what she did and wanted to tell me about it. Truth be told, I had no idea what she was apologizing for but I wasn't going to stop her from letting it all out. After a bit of stuttering and stammering, she finally let it go.
"Mr. Expat, remember how the lab was due on Friday? Well, I didn't get it done for homework and I copied the answers from a friend. I got caught copying the answers in another class and that teacher took both of our papers away. I told my mom and she said that I needed to come over and tell you about it ahead of time and be responsible for my actions." *the conversation has been paraphrased since I don't want to write it all down.
This was a first for me. A student was caught by another teacher copying answers to an assignment for my class and was confessing to the act before I even knew. But here's the kicker - technically she didn't turn in the assignment so technically she hasn't cheated yet. Or did she? I asked her if she intended to submit the paper as her own work and she replied that she did intend that, if she hadn't been caught.
Where does the line of cheating/plagarism start? While she did intend to cheat, she hasn't yet, in a technical sense. However she was caught before the act came to fruition and wasn't allowed to follow through with the actual act of submitting someone else's work. She should be treated like any other person caught cheating or is this something different? Our school states that cheating is punishable at the director's discretion, up to a day's worth of in-school suspension and a zero on the assignment. Does she receive the full broadside for the act when the act has yet to be completed yet? Does the letter of the law cover intent? What do you think should happen to April?
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4 comments:
She cheated.
She confessed.
A day's suspension is nothing, in the whole scheme of things.
Just because she's sorry she got caught doesn't let her off the hook. Had she not been caught, she wouldn't be standing crying on your doorstep. As you say, " I asked her if she intended to submit the paper as her own work and she replied that she did intend that, if she hadn't been caught."
Sometimes, the greatest gift we can give our students is explaining important life lessons. If you're caught, pay the consequences. Don't try to weasle out of it just to save your own butt. Accept your mistakes, and move on. (I have to applaud her mom, who insisted that April "be responsible for her actions". That's good parenting.)
Sometimes being "soft" does more harm to our kids than allowing them to "do their time" for cheating. Otherwise, they'll go through life thinking that a.) cheating is perfectly acceptable or b.)they'll get off the hook if show that they're really, really sorry for their actions.
I don't know if you've been reading the US news lately. Kaavya Viswanathan, a Harvard sophomore, admitted to plagiarizing parts of her recently published novel. The publisher is re-calling all copies, and the event has made international news. I have to wonder if this young author got away with plagerizing throughout her high school career. Plagerizing, like cheating, is a learned behavior. The more people get away with it, the braver they become and the more they believe that it's okay.
The most recent act of plagerism that I had to deal with involved a research paper that a student wrote that clearly wasn't her own. I googled a few phrases, found the source, printed it out, and called a meeting with the parents and the school director.
The mother pleaded, begged, and cried for us to have mercy. An "F" on her paper would seriously affect her GPA, and she might not get into the college she wanted. This was a TOP student with top grades.
Thank god the director stuck to his guns, as did I. She was suspended, and received an "F" on the report. Maybe (just maybe?) this might make her think twice before plagerizing in the ivy league school that she will most likely attend.
My advice to you is this: if you really care about this student, you will insist that she pay the penalty for her actions.
Not because you're mean.
Not because you're vindictive.
But because you care about her, and want her to learn an important lesson in life:
If you cheat, you are only cheating yourself.
-Slim
P.S.
I SO mispelled "plagiarizing" in the above post.
What a dweeb.
-slim
You are such a dweeb - I can't believe you didn't look up your misspelled words before clicking submit. ;) (like it never happens to me...)
I have an opinion on this matter but I'm going to wait to see if anyone else chimes in. I'm curious to see what others think before I reveal my feelings and intentions on the matter.
Hey, Expat.
I have a related post about the root causes of students cheating here:
http://shamash.typepad.com/shamash/2006/04/plagiarism_a_le.html
Check it out, if you like.
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