Student Newspaper Survey––

Cheating May Be Most Prevalent

Among High-Achievers

By Larissa Lytwyn

A recent survey conducted by the news staff of Newtown High School’s student-run newspaper, The Hawkeye, revealed that 54 percent of students have cheated “at least once this year,” and about one-fifth of those students have cheated “more than once a week.”

 “While I don’t know exactly how many [Newtown High School] students cheat [based on the student survey] because I don’t know all of the survey details, I do know it is a growing problem everywhere — particularly among high-achieving students,” said Newtown High School Assistant Principal Lorrie Aresenian, a former Newtown Middle School English teacher.

“There are a lot of reasons why,” she continued, “such as the immense pressure, both external, from families, and internal, from a desire to do well academically, that drive students to achieve.”

“Cheating and Succeeding,” a 1998 survey by Educational Communications Corporation, the company behind the annually released Who’s Who list of American teachers, students, and other luminaries found startling results.

Eighty percent of the thousands of students surveyed admitted to cheating on schoolwork at least once during their academic career, and 53 percent of those said the transgression “was no big deal.”

Ms Aresenian believes that the surrounding “culture” plays a considerable role in cheating behavior. “How many times have students ask other students what’s on a test? Or ask them what the answer is to ‘number three’ on an assignment?” she asked. “The moral aspect to this has also been affected.”

There may also be ignorance, she noted, among definitions of cheating.

“When I was in third grade and we were assigned to find out everything about a certain country, we basically all copied information from the encyclopedia,” she said, “and that was fine, that was acceptable. I think that also starts a certain negative precedent about how research can be conducted.”

Newtown High School has strict consequences for cheating, defined as using unauthorized notes during exams, copying off another student’s homework or test, allowing another student to see their test or homework answers, giving information about test material prior to an exam, paraphrasing without citing sources. or submitting another person’s work as their own.

“Students who cheat will automatically fail the assignment,” said Ms Aresenian. “Students who cheat may also compromise their eligibility for the National Honor Society, scholarships. and other honors according to the student handbook.”

She smiled, adding, “We call parents and colleges, too, to inform them of cheating behavior. [Students] don’t mind the call to parents as much as they do to colleges!”

In the 2003–04 student handbook, Ms Aresenian has not only detailed cheating definitions and consequences, but also examples of proper citations.

“Education [about what cheating is] must get out there,” she said. “Students need to know what is and is not acceptable.”

While advancements in computer technology, she continued, have generally made cheating easier, there can be benefits to Internet use.

“When I was teaching English, I interacted with classes through chat rooms,” Ms Aresenian said. “I could answer questions right away and keep a closer eye on their progress on an assignment.”

She believes that teachers who monitor their students’ progress on an assignment can benefit greatly from online conferences and other communication methods.

“It’s important that the teacher is available to the student,” Ms Aresenian said.

For more information about the Who’s Who 1998 poll, “Cheating and Succeeding,” visit www.whoswho-teachers.com.