Gotcha—Why Do Children Cheat?

Gotcha—Why Do Children Cheat?
by Jill Jenkins
 

                Why do children cheat? It is a complex question with many answers.  Some students cheat because they feel they are unable to meet their parents’ high expectations.  Some students cheat as a challenge to see if they get away with it.  Some students cheat because they know they can get away with it.  Some students cheat because their parent enable them to cheat.   Some students cheat because our society glorifies the Jesse James and the Billy the Kids in media and they see this reflected in the behavior of adults in their personal life and in our government.   This problem is endemic, so how do we promote ethical behavior?

                After teaching honors Language Arts for decades, I am still amazed at the number of intellectually-gifted students who resort to copying their friends’ assignments, reading Cliffs Notes instead of reading an assigned novel or having another student provide answers for a test.  I have always asked why would a gifted, young person with the skills to do his own work resort to unethical means to achieve his goals.  The problem is especially profound in upper-middle class neighborhoods, where parents push their children beyond their capabilities.  Students are expected to be sports stars, master an active social life and take every advanced class offered while playing in the school band, singing in the choir and performing the leading role in the school play.  These parents check their student’s grades daily and if any assignment is missing or any grade deviates from perfection, they will be talking to their son or daughter and his or her teacher.  High expectations are wonderful and can help a child become all he can be, but a helicopter parent can put undue pressure on a child causing him to do the unthinkable—cheat.

                For other students cheating is a game.  They are especially motivated by the teacher who takes pleasure in catching him.  I must admit at the beginning of my career I was one of those teachers.  I would wander the aisles of my classroom stalking any child who exhibited the wandering-eye disease and then I would spring like a cat over desks, snatch the test, shred it and toss it dramatically into the trash can hoping to make an example for anyone even thinking of cheating.  What it actually did was motive those who wanted a challenge.  “I’ll show her.  I’ll figure out a way to get around her glaring eyes,” they would mutter with a string of deleted expletives.  (They would carve these same deleted expletives into my desks.)  A better approach is to communicate how disappointed the teacher is to find such a capable, bright student who is a leader would stoop to such inappropriate and unnecessary behavior.  This is a good child who has made a bad choice and needs to be reminded that he/she is capable of better choices and succeeding without losing his/her sense of right and wrong. 

                Some students cheat simply because they can.  If no one is monitoring their behavior, they assume that the teacher just does not care, so why not.  I was one of those students in eighth grade.  In U. S. History, Mr. Spencer would distribute the tests and go to his desk in the back of the room and grade papers.  He never monitored or spoke to us whenever we took a test.  I would either sit at an angle or hold my test above my head so the two boys who sat behind me could copy the answers.  I know I would have never done that if he had made some effort to monitor us, because I never tried it in any of my other classes.  Plus, it had an added benefit.  It is really important to feel accepted in middle school.  My mother had told me that boys did not like girls who were too smart, but they certainly liked you when you gave them the answers to the test. 

                Next, there are the parents who enable their children to cheat.  These are the parents who buy them Cliffs Notes and encourage them to read it instead of the assigned novel.  These are the parents who sign their child’s reading chart without actually monitoring his reading.  These are the parents who blame the teacher when their child is finally caught cheating.  What these parents don’t understand is they are not helping their child.  

                Finally is the bigger problem: the glorification of unethical behavior.  In the last few years of teaching, there has been a growing trend: students networking with other students to cheat for each other.  Some of these students are social engineers using social media, accepting bribes and making cheating an industry.  These are the students who need to learn that Bernie Madoff  and others like him who cheat others out of million for their own personal gains are not heroes. In fact a new business has emerged that will complete students' homework for them for a price. Write My Paper.com will write papers for students or complete math problems for a price.  

                How do we solve this problem?  First, as adults, both teachers and parents, we need to talk to our children about why trust is so important.  If we didn’t all follow the rules and stop at stop signs, there would be more automobile crashes.  Ours is a society depends on trust.  We need to talk about pride in our work.  We need to talk about the reason we get a good education.  You certainly wouldn’t want open-heart surgery from a doctor who cheated his way through medical school. Second, we need to model ethical behavior as parents and teachers.  Third, when students do cheat, we need to tell them how disappointed we are, and help them accept the consequences of their behavior.  Fourth, as teacher and parents, we need to monitor their behavior and set up procedures that make it difficult to cheat.  Fifth, we need select heroes who behave ethically by carefully selecting the movies and books that demonstrate honorable behavior.  Finally let’s give our students kudos (the big thumbs-up) for behaving ethically.

Corporal Punishment verses the Power of the Pregnant Pause

Corporal Punishment verses the Power of the Pregnant Pause

                As many people who attended schools in the early sixties, corporal punishment was part of our educational experience.  There were paddles with holes drilled into them to create blisters on our bottoms and samurai teachers swinging yardsticks.  Teachers often gave students a choice: “the paddle or a call to your mother.”  Most students were so terrified of the wrath of their parents that they gladly accepted the paddle.  Fortunately for me, my patens didn’t have a telephone.  Nevertheless, I learned my lesson in sixth grade about the short-comings of corporal punishment.

                In everyone’s sixth grade class there is one boy who is always in trouble.  Lowell was that boy in my class.  He spent much of his time wandering about the room pulling girl’s braids trying desperately to get their attention just like every other boy, but still Lowell was different.  He smelled like stale cigarettes. His clothing was dirty and in bad repair.  It was a poor neighborhood; most of the student wore patched hand-me-down clothing, but rumor had it that Lowell’s parents were alcoholics that frequently locked their children out of the house over night when they had parties.  

                On this particular day when a girl complained to Miss Peterson, our fresh-from-college first-year teacher, that Lowell had pulled her hair. Miss Peterson really lost it.  She was furious.  She demanded that Lowell bend over a desk and she wielded her yardstick like a mighty club.  Lowell received these humiliating beatings daily, but today was different.  She was the Samurai Warrior and Lowell was the nemesis.  She began hitting him harder and harder at first on the buttocks and then down his thighs, at least twenty or thirty hard blows.  Suddenly Lowell turned around, his face crimson with rage, snatched the yardstick from Miss Peterson’s hand and with one crack broke it in half.  Miss Peterson’s face was horrified and she stepped away.  Lowell tossed the broken yardstick aside and raised his hands above his head.  “I’m going to kill you!” he roared seething with anger. As Lowell stepped toward Miss Peterson, all of the boys in the classroom, leaped on him and tried to hold him back, but it was like holding back a run-away locomotive.  Lowell continued forward carrying them with him and Miss Peterson turned and ran from the room followed by Lowell with all of the boys still clinging to him.   In a few minutes, our principal, Mrs. MacDonald came into the classroom, quieted the frightened students, and took over for Miss Peterson.  Lowell and Miss Peterson had the rest of the day off. 

      When I became a teacher a decade later, corporal punishment was still being used in the classroom, but after that experience, I had no desire to use it.  Since I stood a whopping five foot one inch almost and ninety-five pounds, I knew the likelihood of me intimidating anyone was pretty small, so I had to find another way.  I really didn’t have to look any further than my parents.  My parents both had very different approaches to discipline.  My mother (another five foot monster) used corporal punishment.  She would slap you, break into tears and wail, “Wait until your father gets home.”  Since she was small, the slapping wasn’t much although we did feel badly for making her cry.  The real terror were her words, “Wait until your father gets home.”

                My father never spanked anyone.  He was the master of the pregnant pause, forcing you to wait and think about what you had done.  For example, on one particular day, I had attempted to kick my younger brother, Dave, in the chin for his verbal taunting.  Just as I was about to release my anger on him, he slammed the door to his bedroom and my foot penetrated his bedroom door.  I had to wait three hours for my dad to get home.   Petrified I began to create excuses for my behavior.  It was, after all, Dave’s fault because if he had not slammed that door, he would have been properly kicked in the chin and door would have suffered no damage. 

                When my father got home, I met him in the driveway filled with anxiety.  I tried to tell him what had happened and who was to blame, but he would not listen.  He told me to wait until after dinner.  My anxiety increased.  After dinner he told me to wait until he had had a shower and changed his clothing.  My anxiety increased even more.  After that I had to wait while he read the paper and had time to unwind from work.  I was near manic stage.  Finally he asked me to sit down at the kitchen table and wait while he fixed himself a cup of coffee, got me a glass of milk and put a dozen Oreo cookies on a plate.  I knew I couldn’t eat cookies or drink milk because my stomach was churning.  After a long slow sip of coffee, my father asked me to explain what I had done wrong that had upset my mother so much.  Like a machine gun, I rattled off all of the events of the day explaining how it was really my brother’s fault because if he hadn’t slammed that door nothing would have been broken except his chin.  “So, do think kicking your brother’s chin would have been better than kicking the door?”  He waited for my response and I realized the error in my judgment.  I had to admit it was not.  He sipped his coffee and nibbled on a cookie while I waited nervously.  “What could you have done differently?”  Even though I again insisted that if my brother hadn’t taunted me, this would never have happened, he would not accept it.  He shook his head and indicated that he was talking to me and not my brother.  After I had identified several alternative plans to dealing with a taunting brother, he pointed out there was still the matter of the broken door.  He explained to me that replacing that door would take money from the family’s recreation budget and since I was the one who broke it, he didn’t think it was fair for the entire family to suffer because of my lapse in judgment.  He again asked me to think of ways I could earn the money to replace the door forcing me to select chores I could do for neighbors to earn enough to replace the door.  As a result, I ended up gardening and mowing lawns all summer.  Even though I paid my father back for the broken door, he never replaced it until I moved away as reminder to me to not to lose my temper. 

                It is in the power of the pregnant pause (the waiting) that forces students to think about what they have done, take ownership for their poor choices, consider alternative behaviors and take responsibility for repairing the damage.  Some people call this “Think Time” and it helps students learn to be responsible.  Next time you send a student into the hall wait to talk him.  Let them simmer for a while.  It will give you time to regain your composure, so you can direct his/her understanding of his/her behavior in a calm, collected manner.  It allows the student to think about what he/she did wrong.  Although corporal punishment is rarely used in today world, we do have teachers who use verbal assaults and intimidation to control students.  These tactics do not teach students to take ownership for their behavior and learn other methods of problem solving or in Lowell’s case socialization.  Leave the yardstick in the classroom.  You don’t want to become Miss Peterson, instead use the power of the pregnant pause.

                   

The Proof Is In The Pudding: Connect with a Kid

               

 The Proof Is In The Pudding:  Connect With A Kid

            In the 1980s, the movie Teachers was released.  One of the characters was called "Ditto," because each class period,  each student in his class would pick up a ditto (handout) go quietly to his/her seat and complete it during the class period while the teacher read the newspaper.  At the end of the period, each of the students would file past the teacher's desk placing his/her completed ditto into a basket never interacting with the teacher who was still reading his newspaper.  On one particular day, the teacher has a heart attack and dies behind his newspaper, but no one notices. Class period after class period, each student picks up his/her ditto, completes it, files past the corpse without noticing the deceased teacher until the end of the day.  Today's teachers do not know the joy of having fingers indelibly stained purple or the ecstasy one attaines by sniffing fresh dittos.  The ditto is dead, but is it really?  Today's dittos are mindless activities on laptops, and I-Pads while the teacher sits at her desk with her I-Pad or laptop staring blankly at a macaroni-and-cheese recipe on Pinterest or emailing her friends.  Ditto really is not dead. 

            Ironically we call this a connected classroom, but it is anything but connected.  Students are staring into their laps smiling as their nimble thumbs tap text messages on their I-Phones hidden beneath their desks while their teacher shops on Amazon on her computer.  There is no human interaction, so just like the character, Ditto, on Teachers, this teacher could die behind her monitor screen and class after class could wander in, pick up an I-Pad from the workstation complete his/her assignment, return their I-Pad and leave without noticing. Yet our schools are accredited based on how well they are connected to technology.

                Thirty years ago, a parent once said to me that one day teachers will be replaced by computers.  I am afraid that may be true if teachers continue to use computers in this way.  We will continue to see more K-12 on-line schools and teaching as a profession will disappear.  That is unfortunate, because students learn so much more and enjoy learning when teachers engage them in real human interaction.  Computers are a tool that when used well enhance learning.  They should not replace discussions, problem solving and positive emotions that only occurs when one human being (a teacher) engages another (the student).

                In the early 1980s Madeline Hunter created, “ Models of Mastery Learning” https://www.csun.edu/~sch_educ/eed/holle/PACT/planning/Lesson%20Planning.pdf where she identified the steps of teaching:  First, the teacher should use Anticipatory Set:  getting the students attention and motivating them to want to learn more.  Second, the teacher should have a clear Objective, a statement that communicates what the child will learn or be able to do at the end of the lesson.  Third, the teacher should have an Instructional Input.  A clearly stated plan of how the teacher will deliver the learning to the student.  Fourth, the teacher should Model the Learning;  thus, providing an example for the students to see and understand what they must do to accomplish the objective.  Fifth, the teacher should check for understanding.  This is an informal method of assessing if the students understanding of what information they are to learn and how they are going to present it to the class. Sixth the teacher should provide Guided Practice.   This means the teacher engages the student and together they create the learning.   Research shows that for struggling learners to be successful the Guided Practice segment of their learning should be longer to ensure that they have mastered the skill before proceeding to the final step.  Last, but not Least, is Independent Practice.  During this segment of learning, the student demonstrates that he has mastered the skill by performing on his own.  Madeline Hunter’s research shows that the struggling learners require more interaction (Guided Practice) and less time working independently.  If teachers us Madeline Hunter's lesson design, teachers are engaging with students for 5/6 of the total teaching time.  Students are working independently for only 1/6 of the time.That means teachers, turn off your electronic device, get off your bottom dollar and teach (a verb which mean you have to do something) these kids.   When students are given I-Pads and a disengaged instructor, they are being cheated out of their education.

                Madeline Hunter’s design still works well in our twenty-first century learning model. All teachers need to recognize that computers are tools, not teachers.  Wander about the room, sit down with students while they are writing and give them more Guided Practice to improve their writing.  This certainly beats writing comments on essays late at night and watching students wad them into balls and throw them near (but not in) the garbage can.  By doing this a higher number of your students will be successful.

                The proof is in the pudding is an adage that means you shouldn’t evaluate the quality of a meal until the final course, the pudding, is eaten.  Likewise we can’t judge the quality of an education until these students become productive, happy citizens.  The end of year test is not the pudding, only the end of another course.  Nevertheless, our past experience should tell us that for students to truley flourish, they need human interaction, not just computers.  Connect with a kid.

Show A Little Kindness

Show A Little Kindness

                Creating a warm, caring environment helps students grow both emotionally and intellectually. A conscious effort by the instructor is the only way to achieve this.  How do you do this?  First, develop empathy; second, model formal manners; and third, create predictable procedures, but temper them with mercy.

                Remember what it feels like to be a fourteen-year-old teenager who is certain that the girl sitting next to you and who has never said more than three words to you is the love of your life.  Remember what if feels to be a seventh grade boy who is so worried about getting to class on time that you don’t see the door opening into the hallway and crash directly into it breaking your nose.  Remember being so preoccupied with what others might think that you couldn’t possibly go into the restroom and use a toilet during class change because other people will know that you have bodily functions. Remember when you were an eleven year old boy and believed belching the alphabet was the funniest and the greatest accomplishment of your life. Remember when you were a thirteen year old girl and you raised your hand four times to answer questions.  When the teacher finally called on you, it was the one and only question that you didn’t know.  You knew that teacher did this on purpose just to humiliate you.  It is easy to laugh at the serious tribulation of the average middle school student, but to these students these concerns are serious and at times overwhelming. As educators, we not only teach our subject’s curriculum, but help build the emotional and social well-being of the child.  To do that, the teacher needs to remember what if feels like to be a middle school student and communicate that empathy to them. 

                Modeling proper manners is a good way for an educator to teach a student how to show respect.  To be respected, one must earn respect.  Manners involves more than what you say to a student, because body language communicates so much more than words. For example, I have known educators whose body language and vocal tones tell students that they are “the scum of the earth.”  The students read this and reflect the attitude back to the instructor.  On the other hand, I have known teachers who refer to students as "Mr. Smith” or “Miss Martinez,” thank students for each appropriate gesture and give students compliments as they enter the classroom.  The students feel like millionaire guests at a luxury hotel.  They love to be pampered and respected, just like we all do. They sub-consciously begin to mirror the behavior and become more civilized.  The civility continues when a student is being corrected, “Mr. Brown, I am sorry, but you know you can’t have that cell phone out in class.  If you could please put it away, I would greatly appreciate it.  Thank you for complying with the rules.” (All of this, of course, is said with a smile on his face.)

                Finally students comply with rules if there are clear procedures in place and they are consistently reinforced.  The Conscious Classroom Management by Rick Smith is a good source for new teachers to develop creative, fun procedures that are easily established. (If you are an administrator, either send your teachers to one of Rick Smith’s workshops or invite him for the entire faculty.  He is amazing and very entertaining.)  I personally love his “Exit Procedure.”  If you have taught middle school or are about to teach it, you know or will learn that the last five minutes of class is not productive.  The students stop working, put everything away, wander about the room, so they can be the first to dash out of the door knocking desks, small students and teachers asunder.  To avoid this, Rick Smith suggests that you have an “Exit Procedure” that is posted on the wall with a rubric of readiness.  Mine was:  first, butts in seats, second, feet on floor; third, facing front; fourth, hands on desk; and fifth, smiling.  (Smiling was added by a student, because he said it was his favorite class and it felt more like a game.  Since people are always happy when they play games, we should smile.) I hold up my fingers to indicate if they are ready to leave.  One finger means total mayhem and five fingers means ready to go.  The great thing about this procedure is as a teacher, you don’t have to say anything.  The students will begin regulating the less manageable students.  They know that no one can leave (regardless of when the bell rings) until they reach a five and everyone is in proper exit procedure. 

                Although it is important to be consistent, sometimes all teachers have to “show a little kindness” and bend the rules.  If you have a student who is struggling because of a difficult situation, you may need to stretch the rules a little.  For example, I once had a student whose parents were going through a custody battle and when he spent time with his father he was absent often and did not complete his assigned work; as a result, he failed my class.  When I learned about the situation,  the young man  and I sat and discussed this.  I began by showing empathy for his situation.  Then, I emphasized the importance of taking control of one’s life even when “bad things happen that are beyond our control.”  Finally I offered him a contractual agreement to rectify the situation.  He had to earn a minimum of a “C” and I would change his grade for the previous quarter to a “D-“; thus avoiding summer school.  He earned an “A” the next quarter.  It doesn’t matter the details of the agreement. The students learns how to pick himself  up and get back in the race, an important life skill. Often students are in a stressful situation and they need a little kindness to be successful.