Ethical Issues in Cheating Ourselves - Coursework Example

Ethical Issue CASE CHEATING YOURSELF Ethical issues come up when there is a conflict between various sets of values that relate to a situation (Banyard & Flanagan, 2011). For instance, on the one hand one may believe that they should be honest to people since lying to them disgraces them. On the other hand, one knows that a person’s principles about the situation they are in impact on their behavior in that situation. Consequently they may think it important to deceive others about the true nature of the situations. Clearly there is a struggle between the urge to be honest and the necessity to deceive and this brings about an issue to be resolved. In the case study provided Al who is a professor of mathematics at a regional university in the south, is placed in an ethical dilemma by one of his students Sarah who makes her boyfriend sit her second mathematics exam. This puts Al in a compromising situation knowing very well the university regulations about exams cheating. He had the option of forwarding both Sarah and her boyfriend, who is a senior engineering major student, to the administration and this would lead to their dismissal from the collage (Banyard & Flanagan, 2011). But the professor knows that such a dismissal would permanently affect them. He therefore finds himself in a right-versus-right quandary, with his powerful sense of justice set against his strong sense of mercy. Closely related to this fact is that Sarah was driven to the exam cheating by her strong fear of failure in the paper. There are two alternatives to resolving the ethical dilemma. One would be that Al driven by a sense of justice, sets Sarah and her boyfriend upfront with the administration and in the long run cost them their education. As their mathematics teacher he has the power and mandate to ensure that every student follows the stipulated exam regulations. Despite Sarah’s fears of failure and fact that she really needed a pass in the unit in order to do her major doesn’t justify her actions. Therefore using this basis the professor would forward their names and they would probably be summoned and dismissed to serve as an example to the rest of the student fraternity. The administration assumes that all students are well acquitted with the institution’s rules and regulation pertaining to exam irregularities. Therefore anyone who is found guilty is liable to punishment (Banyard & Flanagan, 2011). The second alternative would be that the professor led by his sense of mercy, would call Sarah and her boyfriend after long personal thinking and thoroughly warn them against repeating such an action. He would then forgive them and probably give Sarah an alternative exam to make up for the other one that she messed up. He may also decide to offer tuition for Sarah in that unit so that she becomes more confident in herself before she sits another exam. This would mean that both Sarah and her boyfriend would continue with their education and actualize their dreams. One ramification for this alternative would be that Sarah may not learn from this mistake and may be tempted to repeat the same the next time and this may land her in even more trouble. Another result of this alternative would be that the other students in Sarah’s class may get word of it and forward the case to the administration and this would land the professor in real trouble. For instance, he may be sacked from his job (Banyard & Flanagan, 2011). The final ramification would be that some other students may want to copy Sarah’s example and therefore the professor may in future have even more complex cases to handle concerning exam cheating. If I were Al, I would go with the first alternative .I would apply justice and forward Sarah and her boyfriend to the administration not paying attention to the impact it would have in them since in my view that’s the right thing to do (Banyard & Flanagan, 2011). By doing this I would be saving my job and at the same time carrying out my duties diligently and morally as per the teaching profession and its ethics. I will also be avoiding future trouble with the students, being that Sarah and her boyfriend would be a lesson to the others concerning exam cheating. An ethical issue such as the one presented usually provides the individuals concerned with a situation or a problem that demands a person to choose between various alternatives that must be assessed as ethical or unethical (Banyard & Flanagan, 2011). This is the situation presented to Al, and as such he will only be judged right if he does the ethical thing which in this case is to report them. Studies of student attitudes and behavior suggest that a majority of students breach principles of academic integrity to some extent. Furthermore, there are facts proving that the problem has worsened over the last few years. Experts and some scholars say the explanation is relatively simple: Cheating has become simpler and more widely acceptable and both parents and schools have failed to give students robust, repetitive messages concerning what is accepted and what is prohibited (Banyard & Flanagan, 2011). Statistics indicate that academic cheating among college and high-school students has risen greatly during the past few years. The findings of the study done on the 29th Whos Who among the American High School Students Poll (of 3,123 learners who scored A or B averages and plan to join college after graduation) were published. Among the findings: 80 percent of the nation’s best students cheated to be at the top of the class (Banyard & Flanagan, 2011). More than half of the learners who were studied said that they dont take cheating as a big deal.95 percent of those who cheated say they were not caught.40 percent cheated on a test or a quiz while 67 percent copied another person’s homework. According to another study a survey of 20,829 high and middle school students countrywide done by the Josephson Institute of Ethics, 70 percent of high school learners and 54 percent of middle school students claimed that they had cheated on exams in the past 12 months. Basing on the above two studies we find that cheating has become a menace in schools and therefore there is urgent need to address it in a way that can make it be stopped. This is because the statistics show that not only poor students cheat but also those of above average capability. The idea that a high percentage of those that cheat don’t feel guilty about it shows that the tendency of cheating is even in an upward scale. There is therefore an urgent need of devising a means of curbing this issue. One of such ways is by identifying the cheats and handling them promptly. Therefore in our case study, Al was better suited to report Sarah so as to act as an example to the rest and with this, it would be a way of addressing the many cases of cheating in the educational institutions (Banyard & Flanagan, 2011). In conclusion I do agree that as much as sometimes one may be led by a human heart to be merciful and forgiving, justice must always prevail and thus one should follow the ethical codes of conduct in any situation. An ethical issue such as the one presented usually provides the individuals concerned with a situation or a problem that demands a person to choose between various alternatives that must be assessed as ethical or unethical. One is always expected to do the moral thing. By this everyone will be performing their end of the bargain and no one ends up crossing the other’s path in terms of conduct. This leaves all with less ethical dilemmas to handle (Banyard & Flanagan, 2011). Reference Banyard, P., & Flanagan, C. (2011). Ethical issues in psychology. New York NY: Routledge. . Read More