1cheat verb \ˈchēt\
transitive verb
1: to deprive of something valuable by the use of deceit or fraud
2: to influence or lead by deceit, trick, or artifice
3: to elude or thwart by or as if by outwitting
intransitive verb
1a : to practice fraud or trickery
b : to violate rules dishonestly
2: to be sexually unfaithful —usually used with on
3: to position oneself defensively near a particular area in anticipation of a play in that area
There is nothing I hate more in this world than liars and cheaters. I guess it comes with the territory since I am a teacher and cheating is the utmost form of disrespect to the profession. They should offer teachers hazard pay when dealing with students who cheat because (and I am sure I am not alone in this) it flicks a switch in my brain when people are being dishonest and makes me see red.
I am not saying I am Miss Goody Two Shoes but I can attest to the fact that I have never cheated academically on anything unless of course you count the time I programed some math equations into my TI82 in the 9th grade before an exam to helpme out and I still failed-I suck at math. I felt so sick about it afterwards that I never did it again...remember the old saying “cheaters never prosper.” I take it so seriously in fact-Marty McFly when Bif calls him a chicken-seriously that when my best friend accused me of cheating while playing the board game “Life” our senior year of High School...I (NOTE:REALLY IMMATURELY) flipped the game board upside down and wouldn't speak to her for a long while-we have mended our relationship since but we have come to the agreement that we will never play a board game again ;)
Recently I was asked to proctor some university exams and one of the students had asked me to just give them the exam and they would complete them on their own since that is how it had been done in the past. At fist I entertained the idea, the student after all was a “friend” of mine and I did not want to hurt their feelings however the loud obnoxious little teacher on my shoulder kept looking at me with those “you are going to regret this” eyes and I had to go with my gut. Needless to say I felt VERY uncomfortable about that request and respectfully declined. I thought that was it, end of conversation lets move on from this hiccup but then the emails started. The student was offended that I thought they were going to cheat, they don’t like people who cheat, they have never cheated before, this is how it was done in the past, they wanted to contact the university to make alternate arrangements and the list goes on.... My response to all this was that straying from the instructions on the exams (which I would be signing off on) was not an option for me and that I would be flexible as far as day, time and location go, I would prefer to actually proctor the exams as defined by the university’s guidelines. It still did not stop at this but I had to rationalize my decision over and over again and became increasingly frustrated that someone I considered a friend would even think to put me in such an uncomfortable position first off and secondly actually make me feel like I was the one who was doing something wrong by not being willing to allow them to cheat-and no matter how you spin it, violating the rules dishonestly in any way is in fact cheating. I have lost a friendship over this but I am proud that I have stuck to my morals, ethics and values. I have worked too hard to become a teacher and sacrificed too much to allow one decision to come back and haunt me in any way. I would like to hear any thoughts you have on my decision-did I take the rules too seriously or would you have done the same?
