Eradicating Cheating in the Educational System - Essay Example

Eradicating Cheating in the Educational System Cheating is oftentimes seen as a response that students employ that is merely indicative of an overall level of laziness or lack of concern with regards to the academic rules or standards. However, there are numerous factors which help to define and differentiate as well as explain the situation. As such, The Wire is a movie series shown on the US cable network, HBO from 2002 to 2008 depicting the criminal activities in Baltimore, Maryland. The series delves into the lives of Black students who from earliest childhood have seen the difficulties of life and learned to live and survive in similar ways to that of their parents. At a very young age, the students are exposed to adult problems like facing the necessity of putting food on the table and taking care of their younger siblings. They carry the burdens of problems supposedly faced by their parents; however, due to the fact that oftentimes a father is in jail or a mother is struggling with drug addiction, the children are oftentimes faced with the very real demand that they begin to find alternative ways to earn money of their own so that they can help supplement the meager earnings of their family. With such a kind of life, the students are exposed to hardships that pressure them to cheat in order to survive in an increasingly challenging educational environment. Furthermore, in order to examine and understand the factors that oftentimes leads students to cheating in the first place. By way of perception, educators and police often consider these youths to be a mere extension of their parents; i.e. drug dealers and cheaters who are threats to the peace and order of the traditional community. They know they are selling drugs and they are watched by the requisite authorities in similar ways as are adults. Sometimes, they are also made as assets when the opportunity arises. They know they are tough so that even if they are young, they play rough with them. The children’s parents look up to them to take responsibility in their families. For instance, Michael is expected to provide for the family’s needs and in the eighth episode of season 4, he even gives his mother money instead of the mother giving him what he needs (The Wire Season 8 Episode 4 [34:37]). The familial and environmental backgrounds of the children demand them to become tough as they are and lost interest in schoolwork. However, to the teachers, the children are still children and human beings. Although most of them are failing in their classes, teachers like Prezbo do their best to seek to continue to impart knowledge to the children in their classrooms. The sad thing is; there are also teachers who look at the situation differently. As one teacher said, it is not about the children but it was about Prezbo surviving (The Wire Season 8 Episode 4 [37:25]). The conversation came up when Mr. Rolan Pryzbylewski, also known as Prezbo, brought to the attention of the other teachers the very high percentage of failing students who were not yet able to do basic mathematical applications their age mates are performing. The reply was implied, that he should just let his students pass. One teacher suggested that he should not teach math but teach them the test instead (36:54) so that they would be able to pass his exams. Prezbo was stunned. Cheating is a rampant problem and schools as instruments for molding responsible citizens should look deeper into this and seriously consider solutions for it. However, with such situations, one would wonder what kind of educational system Baltimore has. Teachers are supposed to teach about honesty, integrity, diligence and perseverance but they themselves go against what they teach. In an article about cheating entitled “Book Review: Cheating in School: What We Know and What We Can Do”, the author says that honesty should be instilled in the minds of students because academic dishonesty or cheating may cause both “character corruption” and “institutional corruption” (Gu). Nevertheless, with the kinds of attitudes the teachers exemplified, although it is not verbally expressed, students will likely be quick to interpret their being ‘passed’ as, it a tacit agreement that cheating is also a practice which will be tolerated. In short, what can be argued is that a fundamental shift in the way that education is being handled within the schools and a fundamental shift away from imparting knowledge and towards merely passing students from one grade to the next severely denigrates and cheapens the process. As within the show, the students know their performance levels. They realize that the teachers giving them the tests is itself an act of cheating. Of course learning is not just about abilities but the students are not stupid not to know that they are not supposed to be promoted to the next level in school when they have performed very poorly in class. When they enroll the next school year, being more neglectful is expected from them thinking that in the end, they will pass anyway. The implied message is that since teachers will bend the rules in order to make the students pass, it is therefore quite alright for the students to engage in a very similar As they say, what goes around comes around. The attitude of teachers will someday catch up with them just like in the portrayal of Namond’s character. In the episode in question, one of the students confronted their teacher, Colvin and another man saying, “Like y’all say, don’t lie, don’t bump, don’t cheat, don’t steal or whatever. But what about you, huh? What, (about) the government?” (The Wire Season 8 Episode 4 [35:16])) Namond’s intended audience were speechless. They knew that there is a great truth in what the student said. Indeed, the notion that is being pointed out greatly expands a commonly held belief that cheating only hurts the cheaters themselves and corrupts their character (Gu). It is a known fact that people learn more effectively through what they see than what they are told. The students have not seen good examples in their own families and community. They expect better from teachers but as Namond has shown, that need of a good model is not met in school either. The students are demanded by the school authorities to be honest in all their dealings including school works but the incident in the classroom with Namond confronting the teacher and counselors shows that they have not seen good examples from them so that the students will willingly obey them. Instead, the authorities were mocked because the students saw them as indicative of a double standard that had no moral relevance. Cheating is one of the greatest problems in schools and this is reflected in most scenes in The Wire, not just in school among students but, also among the government officials, the peacemakers and teachers. It is the perfect world where students and teachers should live, dealing with each other in all honesty however, in the movie and just like in real life; most of the ideals are not practiced. Moreover, the article discusses the causes of cheating. Wanting to have high grades is rated first on the list (Gu 2011). Interestingly, the students in the movie did not cheat to have high grades. In this way a clear divergence is seen between the article that has been listed and the realities that are fictionally portrayed on the screen. The students represented in The Wire did not cheat to have grades. Even the other reasons for cheating like fear of failure, peer pressure, and the intense competition expected in future job markets; are not in the list concerns that can easily be related of the students exhibited in the television series. They did not care about such matters at all. They did not think that there would be a future job market for them. In fact, when asked about what they think they would become in ten years, some students answered they would be dead. They know their lives and their odds. They cheat outside of school because they need to, for them to be able to survive their harsh world. They cheat in school just because cheating has become normal in them and for them to have something to submit for compliance. In fact, when Mr. Prezbo found out that one of his students in the computer exercises that he was given to perform was cheating, the student did not feel fearful or ashamed at all. Rather, he seemed proud and even suggested that he will teach his teacher how to teach (28:54). This example shows that cheating has already become a part of the student’s life so that it seemed to be as normal as breathing where there is nothing to be ashamed of. Further on, Gu admits that academic dishonesty is a concern far beyond the student level and requires commensurate attention, research and action (5). Throughout the movie, cheating is portrayed by most of the characters in varying degrees and in different situations. The students and the professionals alike committed the offense. Even the police who are expected to be the models for honesty failed in portraying it. This shows the truth behind the statement mentioned earlier, that cheating corrupts character and institution. Due to the fact that the teachers have had a compounding effect on the already harsh realities of life that the students exhibit, it is clear that the problem is no longer primarily the responsibility of a subset of lackluster or lazy students; rather, it is the effect of a system that engages in dishonest practices all its own. One may not blame the officers, teachers, politicians and other professional if they are dishonest in their jobs because they might have been raised and trained by dishonest parents, teachers and other adults. The process may have repeated itself for a long time until cheating has become a part of the characters’ system. Their characters have been corrupted and they are corrupting the institutions they represent. However, something must be done and just like what Prezbo was trying to exemplify, change must start from the adults, the educated, the professionals, especially for the teachers who have the platform and time to influence their students. References Gu, Wei. Book Review: Cheating in School: What We Know and What We Can Do. Chicago Journal: American Journal of Education. Vol. 117, no. 4. August, 2011. Web. October 10, 2012. < http://iiiprxy.library.miami.edu:2086/stable/10.1086/660758>. Episode Eight Season 4. The Wire. Dir. Antony Hemmingway. Perf. Dominic West, John Doman, Frankie Faison, Aidan Gillen, Deirdre Lovejoy, Jim True-Frost and Robert Wisdom. HBO, 2006. Web. October 10, 2012. . n.a. The Wire: Arguably the Greatest Television Programme Ever Made. The Telegraph. April 2, 2009. Web. October 10, 2012. . Read More