bananabrows 2,169 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I know it's probably a dumb question, but I came across this article on Wired and apparently the author thinks so. Why I Think Students Should Cheat You have been kidnapped and dragged off to a remote location where your abductors have tied you to a chair. One of your captors is seated in front of you. He holds up ten flash cards and informs you that he is going to ask you a series of questions and the answers are printed on the backs of the cards. He assures you that once he has finished asking these questions, you will be released. There is a catch, though. For every question you get wrong, he will signal his accomplice to cut off one of your fingers. As he begins to read the first question, you notice there is a mirror on the opposite wall where you can see the reflection of the text on the card. Because you have been taught that cheating is dishonest, you interrupt your kidnapper and let him know that you are able to read the card and that he must conceal them better so that you cannot inadvertently cheat. He adjusts himself accordingly and proceeds to ask you a series of dry and uninspired questions on topics that hold no interest for you, while his accomplice menacingly holds out a set of cutting pliers. While cheating is technically wrong, everyone should cringe at this conception of morality because it fails to account for context. In this example, cheating is not only justified, it is necessary because it aids a helpless victim who has been involuntarily subjected to unreasonable conditions. Unfortunately, this kind of clarity is absent when it comes to compulsory education. One of the most salient features of all public schools is the importance of grades. Because grades are the currency and sole commodity of schools, they are used both to motivate and punish. They are a major component of a student’s portfolio and have the potential to impact their future. Educators might try to stress the value of “learning†over grades, but that is a complete farce. When learning is not commensurately represented by grades, students rightly feel cheated by the system and become apathetic. To insist on valuing learning over grades is offensively disingenuous and hypocritical. It is akin to telling workers at McDonald’s that they should care more about doing their job than their salary.While cheating is technically wrong, everyone should cringe at this conception of morality because it fails to account for context. In this example, cheating is not only justified, it is necessary because it aids a helpless victim who has been involuntarily subjected to unreasonable conditions. Unfortunately, this kind of clarity is absent when it comes to compulsory education. Students have no input regarding how or what they learn, and they are alienated from the work they do at school. Except for a few rare assignments, students are not inspired by their work, and any personal attachment they could have is undermined by the fact that they must compromise their efforts to meet the demands and expectations of the person who grades their work. It’s important to bear in mind that students prepare for tests with the intention that they will retain the material just long enough to take the test and then forget most of what they learned soon afterwards. This completely undermines the purpose and value of testing. Advocates of testing who denigrate cheating conveniently fail to acknowledge this. Testing demands that students view knowledge as a disposable commodity that is only relevant when it is tested. This contributes to the process of devaluing education. The benefits of cheating are obvious – improved grades in an environment where failure is not an opportunity for learning, but rather a badge of shame. When students do poorly on a test, there is no reason for students to review their responses because they will likely never be tested on the same thing ever again. The test itself is largely arbitrary and often not meaningful. Organizations such as FairTest are devoted to sharing research that exposes the problems of bad testing practices. The main arguments against cheating in school are that it is unethical, promotes bad habits, and impacts self-esteem through the attainment of an unearned reward. None of these concerns are even remotely valid because none consider the environment. Children are routinely rounded up and forcibly placed in an institution where they are subjected to a hierarchy that places them at the bottom. Like the hostage, they are held captive even if they are not physically bound. They are deprived of any power over their own lives, including the ability to pursue their interests, and are subjected to a barrage of tests that have consequences for each wrong answer. Maintaining ethics is part of an unwritten contract of being a willing participant in a community. Students placed in school against their will and routinely disrespected have no obligation to adhere to the ethical codes of their oppressors. Cheating is an act of resistance, and resistance against oppressive powers should be encouraged and celebrated, rather than deemed a “bad habit†or an unethical act. The concern regarding self-esteem that is highlighted by The Child Study Center as promoting the “worst damage,†lacks any scientific support whatsoever. If students feel bad for cheating, it is because the environment has created a set of conditions where cheating is necessary and justifiable. For this same reason, many students are proud that they cheat. Cheating often requires creativity in terms of execution as well as ingenuity to avoid being caught. It also serves as a statement of disdain against an arbitrary and repressive institution. For these reasons, cheating can be a source for pride that boosts self-esteem. Given this construct, cheating is not simply something many students do; it is something all students in compulsory schools should do. Cheating is a moral imperative. Punishing students for cheating is completely misguided. People should be most concerned about the student who does not cheat. They are the ones who appear to have internalized their oppression and might lack the necessary skills to rally and lobby against abuses of power that are perpetrated by governing bodies. Cheating should be recognized as the necessary and logical outcome of an arbitrary and oppressive institution. Punishing students who cheat is yet another abuse of autocratic power. In a healthy society, people ridicule and shame those who force children to endure the kind of environment that demands they must cheat. What do you think? I personally disagree with the article. I'm all for education reform, but cheating the system is not the way to go about it. Cheating harms the student who cheated as well as the other students who actually did the work required. I just feel like this article is trying to excuse lazy behavior, which is what it usually is imo. I'm just speaking from what I have observed, but the ones who cheat do it habitually, and it's usually due to laziness/procrastination more than desperation or because they want to show an 'act of resistance'. Also, the thing about grades is ridiculous. Grades should reflect learning. The two should go hand in hand. I don't see why students should choose one or the other, as if you can't possibly learn the material AND maintain a high GPA. Anyways, I know there are tons of problems with the education system, but it's bs to think that cheating is the right way to 'resist'. It's not something that should be encouraged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloupipoo 1,619 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 No I think that's cheating yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modella 2,015 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 If I fail, I fail with honor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mochi 1,737 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapmon's Ahjussi Husband 2,299 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I think is wrong because that info you will need it in the future, but it will happen anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teru 22,363 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 no. that said I don't think getting straight-A grades is the most important thing in anyone's life, but there's never any reason to cheat. just do everything to the best of your personal ability Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeTaeyong 4,086 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I wouldn't care but it affects class rank so I don't tolerate it I'm not about to drop in rank because you're a dumbass sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MermaidPrincess 4,039 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I cheated on a class I had for the summer but it wasn't my fault the professor ripped all the questions from other published websites with the answers and shit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAYAKA 9,964 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 well you are basically cheating yourself from actually learning about the lesson. I don't get why the author even typed up that beginning paragraph because in that situation a lot of us would "cheat" since it means survival and a safe return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omniscient 404 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Yes, but it depends if it will comeback and bite him in the ass or not if someone isn't hurting anyone while cheating, why not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reckoner 6,692 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 nope Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bananabrows 2,169 Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 well you are basically cheating yourself from actually learning about the lesson. I don't get why the author even typed up that beginning paragraph because in that situation a lot of us would "cheat" since it means survival and a safe return. lol whoops i accidentally left out a paragraph where he explains that. sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAYAKA 9,964 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 lol whoops i accidentally left out a paragraph where he explains that. sorry. oh that's fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EXOSUS 2,534 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Yes, but it depends if it will comeback and bite him in the ass or not if someone isn't hurting anyone while cheating, why not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallah 8,441 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 i agree that schools suck in the U.S. and a number of other countries but that article is full of shit if you don't feel that you're learning in school then learn the material on your own time, it's not like you have to browse through the catalogue card system at the library anymore and look up obscure books from the 1900s, the internet is filled to the brim with educational materials on almost every concept ever not to mention that cheating really fucks over students who actually do their best whenever the grade is on the curve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScarletWhimsy 2,203 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 No, I still think it's wrong. Those weren't entirely bad points though, and it reminds me of the sad fact that when you get out of school and into the real world, there are a TON of people at the top who cheated their ways up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PoshLuxe 689 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 No Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KissontheW1nD 5,731 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Lol I couldn't take that seriously. I only read the first paragraph and thought "wow, this person is trying really to justify not doing their own work" On-topic: I would never cheat because I'm intelligent enough to do my own work, and morally developed enough not to steal someone else's work and claim it as my own Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rererered 0 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 It's better to cheat than to repeat... loljk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starlight 1,108 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I don't think cheating in school is right and I never did it, but if I was in the situation that person gave as an example then I'd definitely cheat. My safety would come first in a situation like that. In school however not cheating never actually endangered me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Souloist 3,634 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Nope, cheating is just a form of self-deception. You might be getting good grades by cheating, but in reality you don't know shit. I'd rather fail trying than succeed the easy way. If I do fail, then that just means I need to put more effort. I know it's not easy, but hard-work does pay off and it feels great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yerowan 1,006 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Is this author just trolling? He leads off with some ridiculous CHEAT OR DIE scenario to prime you to agree that cheating is okay in THAT situation, therefore maybe cheating is okay in other situations and then goes on to call cheating in school a "moral imperative." Maybe his editor ought to see if he plagiarized this crap from some dumb kid who wanted to use big words to make himself feel better for having cheated his way into expulsion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
versace 9,204 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 As long as the cheated one agrees with the cheater But its still on the cheater tho.. Yeah you got great scores but theres no learning.. You just suceeded in writing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkPunk 1,129 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 once in a while Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pooperscooper 41 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 For the ones who think it's okay for students to cheat. Let's say there's a student that cheats school, even all the way to college. He graduates with phenomenal grades and even graduates from medical school. You have a child who needs a heart transplant. Your child dies, but you don't know how when the doctors/nurses said he/she was getting better. Why did your child die? Later on, you find out the doctor cheated on an exam and he didn't know how to reconnect the donated heart to your child's muscles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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