Cheating

This was a post from last year about this time and it did not receive much discussion. I re-posted it to see if I could generate some this time and to see if we could find some answers to this problem.


As a teacher, I see and hear about all forms of cheating, from copying vocabulary work, to copying and pasting a report, to looking at another's answers on a test, to making up book reports about non-existent books or writing a book report based on not actually reading the book, but on what you have read about the book. Nothing really surprises me anymore.

Read the news report of what happened in Hanover High School in Hanover, NH.

What is this telling us about the current generation?

Are they over-booked with too many academic, activity, job-related and personal commitments that they have no time to do their work, complete assignments, or study for tests?

Are parents or the students themselves putting too much pressure on the students to achieve a good grade that learning takes second place?

Are schools and teachers emphasizing the wrong thing- grades instead of actual learning?

No learning can actually be graded- learning is learning- it changes the brain. How can that be graded?

So what do we and teachers, students and administrators do about cheating?

What is the parental role in this issue?

Gossip

Gossip is a great problem in this school. How do we address it and the hurt, misunderstanding and fighting that it causes? Should teachers and others "punish" those who gossip? How? What about when the gossip comes from those in authority? Should people be confronted by those they gossip about? Am I just overreacting to this problem? Is it just a part of life?