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| Is bringing a formula to a test really cheating if you understand the material regardless? |
“It’s the feeling of instant gratification,” said a
Grade 11 student at NTCI, who asked to remain anonymous. “Wanting the result
without the hard work is what drives people.” We’ve all experienced this:
Craving a satisfying meal but not wanting to cook it, feeling desperate to win
a video game without putting in the time. At school, it's usually the desire to
pass an exam without studying, and this in turn leads many to cheat.
On page 13 of the NTCI planner, there are five
paragraphs outlining every reason why one should never cheat or plagiarize.
Written by Mr. Greg Hobson, head of the history department at NTCI, the
school's Code of Behavior is intended as an unofficial response to the TDSB’s
own Code of Conduct. This Code has been
designed over the years to protect the rights and safety of anyone in the TDSB
be it teacher or student. Mr. Hobson’s rendition of the code focuses more on
the academic side rather than conduct, which it covers as well but not to the
same extent. In fact there’s even a guide to “Literary Essay Structure” on page
21. Before that however is the cheating and plagiarism section that many
students look over.
Despite warnings such as these, students continue
to cheat. According to a survey conducted by the Canadian Council of Learning,
60 percent of high school students admit to committing an act of cheating on a
test. This means that if applied to NT, roughly 780 students have disregarded
the code of conduct at one point or another. Maybe cheating isn’t as rare as
previously thought.
Some choose to “cheat spectacularly” as an
anonymous grade 12 student said in an interview: “I don’t plagiarize or copy
the thoughts of others. I only use formulas.” In fact, in some schools, such as
Northern Secondary, students are permitted to consult certain formulas during
their exams. It’s not uncommon for students to complain about having to
memorize formulas simply because they are told these formulas are necessary
when they are certain that professionals in the workforce still forget them time
to time. “When I used to ask my mom for help with my math homework she’d have
to take the time to try to remember the formulas, and she’s a fairly
accomplished graduate,” said the student.
“It’s the feeling of instant gratification,” said
another anonymous Grade 11 student. “Wanting the result without the hard work
is what drives people.” We’ve all experienced this: When you want to be full
without cooking a meal you go and eat out; when you’re playing a video game and
you want an advantage, you look up the game on Google and find the codes you need
to enter.
Not only are we naturally driven to cheat, it's
also proven to be effective in many circumstances.
“I’ve been taught that cheating is wrong, but it
does work sometimes,” says the grade 11 student “It’s not as horrible as it is
seen. How much of our knowledge is truly original? We are simply the result of
years of plagiarism.” Artists like Mr. Brainwash in fact manage to make a
living off of his “renditions” of past artists such as Andy Warhol. What does
this say for the integrity of a DJ’s career if they simply remix already made
music with filters, cuts, and other techniques? That’s not to say that their
works aren’t appreciated, quite the contrary really, but what does this say for
“plagiarism” and cheating for the rest of us?
Mr. Hobson begs to differ. He says any form of
academic cheating is “dreadful… Cheating undermines the abilities of a student
— they aren’t aware what they are capable of and so they turn to cheating as an
easy way out. Your generation is so afraid of being wrong that you resort to
cheating.” Unfortunately, he added, “we honor that by doing nothing to fix the
power imbalance between those values.”
The struggle between wanting to be right at all
costs — even if it means cheating — and choosing to do the right thing — even
if it means failing — is a difficult one, and it surely won't be resolved
anytime soon. “NT has a culture of doing things certain ways,” added Mr.
Hobson, “and we make a bigger deal of our habits than necessary.” Then it is up
to nobody but the student body to change or be a part of that culture.
Cheers, MarkL
