New policy acknowledges degrees of cheating
The school’s new cheating policy finally draws a distinction between the extremities of copying a friend’s homework and copying off of a test. In previous school years, there was a zero-tolerance policy for any cheating, resulting in punishment for anything ranging from sharing homework to plagiarizing an essay. However, Peninsula teachers decided that the policy could be improved.
“We had a group of about ten teachers and two administrators making this change,” Associate Principal Michael Wanmer said. “We wanted to revamp the system to create a policy that would prepare students for expectations in college.”
Some have raised concern that the new policy may encourage students to cheat because the consequences for offenses appear to be more lenient. However, Peninsula’s new cheating policy will not encourage students to cheat in any way.
The new cheating policy resembles policies employed in many colleges. A point system based on the extremity of the offense determines the harshness of the punishment for the cheating student. At Peninsula, cheating penalties are broken down into different levels of severity, with harsher penalties for more serious offenses. For example, copying someone’s homework earns the student one point, but changing their test scores in the teacher’s grade book earns the student four points. If a student reaches six points or more, he or she will be dropped and failed from the class, and eligibility for clubs and organizations will be limited.
Research shows that harsher school policies do not reduce the amount of cheating at a school. According to a 2011 article by the American Psychological Association, University California, Davis professor Amy Novotney examined data gathered from United States military academies, where honor codes are very strictly enforced, then determined that despite the harsh penalties, students who cheated throughout their high school careers continued doing so in college.
There are other reasons why a student would cheat outside of a lenient cheating policy. According to the American Psychological Association, a study from Middlebury College showed that cheating tendencies increased when school or personal stress was affecting students. Moreover, in 2005 Stanford News reported that they found cheating was mainly caused by the stress of obtaining higher grades. These are much more likely causes of cheating.
“I wouldn’t say that people are encouraged by the new rules,” sophomore Jennifer Copeland said. “I would expect the motivation to be to try and get a better grade.”
Peninsula’s new cheating policy will not encourage students to cheat in any way. Reputable research shows that some students will still cheat despite strict honor codes, and there are plenty of other motives for students to cheat than a more lenient school policy. While cheating is certainly immoral and should not be treated lightly, harsh penalties are not the way to combat it. Instead, preventive measures should be taken to ensure that students will not cheat in the first place. To teachers like Kristian Engle, the more concrete guidelines of the new policy help them make the proper decision when punishing students who cheat.
“I do not see the cheating policy as more lenient,” Engle said. “I see it as more organized and more conducive to allowing teachers
