The fact is, everybody cheats. When you're in the 7Eleven and take a sip off your Big Gulp and then top it off you are cheating the vendor. But it is a minuscule cheat so you let it slip by.
My lesson starts out with a student who stays up with matters, was thrown a surprise quiz on Monday morning during first period. Because he studies, he aced it.
He decides to text his profligate bud who sleeps in on Mondays, that a surprise quiz will show up third period when he arrives.
With an hour to cram, he gets a B. Problem is, he is a gentleman C student because he plays football.
The teacher suspects something is awry.
I polled my students to ask if there was cheating going on and 90% said no way, he was just alerting his friend.
After extensive discussion as to the point of a surprise quiz, less than 10% of the class would dismiss it as no big deal.
I qualified our lesson that when doing an unfamiliar task that you probably should have learned by paying attention to your surroundings, you turn to an expert to get advice. That indicates that you cheated yourself out of knowledge that would come in handy.
The unit was far more complex than this summary.
Ultimately, cheating happens. When, however, does it become an obstacle to social mores and protocols?
My contention is that cheating is bad, but badder when you use it to stick it to someone who doesn't deserve being stuck.
When that point of view takes hold of someone, sticking it to them to better your lot, you lose trust in your fellow man.
Some of us can shrug it off because we are able to continue despite the cheaters, but most can't.
They need someone to stand up and call out the bad guys.
This battle is on display every day and we must not shirk.
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