By Joan Vennochi, Globe Columnist September 20, 2007
WHAT'S THE most valuable message a parent can impart to a child?
That it is important to be honest? Or, that it is important to get into Princeton?
The parents of nine high school students accused of breaking into Hanover High School in New Hampshire are furious that school officials turned the case over to local police. The police prosecutor brought criminal charges against the students who allegedly broke into a teacher's filing cabinet and stole exams. Their parents are now being told that if they choose to take the case to trial, the misdemeanor charges could be raised to felonies.
Threatening a felony charge in this situation seems as extreme as the campus police decision to taser an obnoxious college student who interrupted Senator John Kerry's speech at the University of Florida. But those parents who are angry that school administrators in Hanover turned a case of breaking and entering over to police also seem extreme in their defense of their children's alleged wrongdoing.
As Superintendent of Schools Wayne Gersen told the Globe, "We have never called the police for a cheating incident. But there is never a time when we would not call the police when someone breaks into our building."
The parents are trying to get the charges reduced to violations that carry no criminal penalties. Such penalties could jeopardize their child's chances of attending college or getting hired for a job.
"What's frightening as a parent is that a 17-year-old makes one little mistake and he's going to have a potential prison sentence," said Jim Kenyon, a columnist for The Valley News based in Lebanon, N.H.
As the mother of two teenagers, I agree. The prospect of jail and a promising future derailed is frightening. But it is also scary to hear a parent equate an allegation of breaking and entering into a school for the purpose of stealing exams as "one little mistake." This is, at minimum, a very big mistake.
Today, cheating is routinely dismissed as no big deal. A stadium filled with New England Patriots fans sent that clear message to Coach Bill Belichick after he was fined $500,000 for illegally filming the signals of New York Jets coaches in the season opener.
"Do whatever it takes to win" is the accepted mantra in politics, business, and sports. Not surprisingly, that attitude spills down into high school.
A report released last year by the Josephson Institute of Ethics, a nonpartisan and nonprofit group based in Los Angeles, found "entrenched habits of dishonesty" amongst young people.
About 28 percent of 36,122 public and private high school students who were surveyed admitted stealing from a store within the past year; 23 percent said they stole something from a parent or other relative; 82 percent said they lied to a parent about something significant; and 60 percent said they cheated on a test during the past year.
At the same time, 98 percent of the students who responded to the survey said "It's important for me to be a person with good character"; and 97 percent said it is "important that people trust me." Unfortunately, those positive values are undercut by cynicism about how things work in the real world. Of those surveyed, 59 percent agreed that "In the real world, successful people do what they must to win, even if others consider it cheating"; and 42 percent believe "A person has to lie or cheat sometimes in order to succeed."
What happened at Hanover High School went beyond lying or cheating. Students allegedly entered the school building one evening after school was out. While some stood guard, others entered a classroom and used stolen keys to break into a teacher's filing cabinet and steal tests.
Breaking and entering is a crime, not just a mistake. It is fair to treat all alleged perpetrators equally, by turning the matter over to police. Participation at any level, as lookout or thief, should make a parent very angry - at the child who chose that path.
These students have the right to a presumption of innocence and due process. But parents who worry that criminal prosecution hinders college admissions and future career opportunities seem to be missing the major concerns raised by this incident.
Why did these students decide the break-in was worth the risk?
What drove their children to conclude that success via stealing and cheating is more important than basic honesty?
22 comments:
This article brings up a huge point. Cheating has become a huge thing in our world look at just sports. Bill Belichick is a recent example along with many baseball players getting caught using steroids. They are trying to be great but are taking the short cut or the easy way. In this case the students are cheating to pad their GPA or pass the class. They care more about their grade rather than learning. The percentages they got from the questionaire don't surprise me because they are probably under a lot of stress from parents. Most of them are probably just interpreting their parents wrong. Their parents want them to do good but they don't want them to have to cheat. Some parents on the other hand are probably telling their kids to do anything to get an A, which is just sad.
To prison I say! Breaking in and stealing from a school is a violation of federal law. The fact that these were 17 year old kids makes no difference; they willingly broke the law knowing full well the consequences would be severe if caught. If those kids had put as much time and energy into studying as they did in planning and executing this “one tiny mistake” they wouldn’t be in the position they are in currently. Hihohiho it’s off to prison they go…
I think that turning the students over the police was extreme. It's not like they broke in and robbed they got answeres for a test. I'm not saying thats right because its not. but I think it was something that could have been dealt with at the school level. Cheating should be more harshly punished than it is, because there's no glory in winning when you cheated.
I think the school had every right to turn it over to the police. The kids broke in and stole something, Regardless of it being a sheet filled with wondrful answers that will help them pass an exam, they still broke into the school and took it.
I watched a news clip about this in another class and I almost found it humorous on how the parents want it to be passed off as a "tiny mistake". Another kid from the school thought that it was ridiculous because they're just high school students. A lot of high school students complain when they're treated like children and want to be treated as adults. In this situation an adult would get in trouble for it and it wouldn't be considered a tiny mistake.
They news clip also mentioned that it's a big academic town and that the newspaper posts students GPA's or where they got accepted to college. I realize that's a lot of pressure for a student to face, but I would think if they were so worried about it they would actually put effort forth and try in their classes instead of focussing on participating in something illegal that they could possibly get caught doing, which in this case, they did.
I think that sending these kids to jail would be a little bit extreme, but I do think that they should be punished severely within the school. Expulsion would be a good choice, but prison? It's obvious that these kids weren't thinking about the consequences when they broke into the school to steal the answers. But you have to remember that it's high school. Cheating and stealing are both very serious offenses, but throwing a few high school kids in jail is harsh. It's obvious that they care more about their grades than what they are actually learning, which can be taken as good or bad. Their parents are obviously pushing them to get good grades, or telling them to do anything for an A, as savage said. I also agree with what sparky said about the parents wanting it to be passed off as a small mistake. I do not think that what these kids did is worthy of jail time. But expulsion is definitely a punishment that fits the crime.
Its a fact that what you do that is wrong, there is going to be a consequence to that action, there should be a consequence for the students stealing and them cheating. I believe that this case shouldn't have never gotten as far as it did in the courts. I have heard plenty of stories where high school students have stolen test answers and test copies, and it had never gotten into the courts. This issue should have stayed within the realm of what the parents and the school administrators needed to do with these students and their actions...this has gotten way to far...
This is agreat example of how much America focuses on grades, instead of what the students are learning. I realize its almost impossible to measure how much students are learning without these tests, but that factor combined with the pressure to do well from our parents is enough to make even the A average student want to cheat. By over-publicising this story, the newspapers got a layout filled. thats about all. we all know cheating is bad. and we dont need to be reminded.
This does not deserve jail time, but like bubbly said, expulsion seems more in order. There are a lot of pressures for high school students to excel today, but it doesn't all come from parents, and I don't think all the blame should be put on them. I know that my parents don't push me to get striaght A's, yet I constantly feel under pressure to get high grades simply because of the competition my classmates provide. We are all highly competitive, and I think that is a lot of what drives students to excel. We just all need to stop and think though; everyday I see people cheating around here. Is it really worth it? In this case, the students found out that it wasn't worth it...like others have said, they could have spent their time studying, instead of planning the break-in.
In today's society so much is placed on grades and tests that sometimes students will do whatever it takes to get ahead. Although stealing is wrong, many things today are not achieved the "honest way." Cheating is everywhere, and it very unforunate for the students stealing the tests that they were caught. No doubt,what they did was wrong, but punishing them in as harsh a way being done is uncalled for. I belive that being charged is fair, but maybe not so much as a felony. I think its safe to say they have learned a valuable lesson without having felony charges haunting them the rest of their lives.
I think what fuels cheating is the pressure that kids are put through to get above average grades and to get into college. Now I don't endorse cheating, and it's wrong, but their reasons for cheating I understand, now should they be sent to jail? I don't know, who am I to pass that judgment? But breaking and entering to steal tests requires a pretty long and drawn out plan, and so saying it was, "one tiny mistake", is just downright silly.
How do these parents think that it was a little mistake. THEY BROKE INTO THE SCHOOL AND STOLE TEST ANSWERS. Thats not really a little mistake.
Everyone cheats. Wether it be in school, sports, or whatever. People have cheated, will cheat, and never will stop cheating. I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of you students have cheated as well so how is it any different from those kids? The fact of the matter is that cheating is bad only if you get caught. So i guess those kids are getting shipped off to jail then.
I say send them to prison. Cheating is already a big deal by itself but they decided to add in breaking and entering and stealing on top of that! They deserve consequences for their actions
These kids should be turned over to the police. They didn't just try to cheat they broke into a building. We wouldn't defend a person who tried to rob a bank if he needed money to stay in college so why would we defend someone who broke in to a school to try to help himself get in to college.
I believe that a mistake is very much different from a decision. A mistake is an accident is decision is a plan. These boys very clearly made a decision, a very bad decision. Although it's very frightening for the parents it's also a little bit startling that the parents can back up their kid saying it's only a "little mistake". They broke an entering and took something that didn't belong to them in order to get a good grade on their next test. It was a bad decision not a little mistake and those kids planed it out knowing full well that what they were doing was wrong and I believe they should face severe consequences for their actions.
Wow. This is ridiculous. I'm not sure what the punishment for these boys should be, the courts can decide that. But they definately deserve to be punished!
Cheating is everywhere, no doubt. So many people believe "if you ain't cheatin' you ain't tryin". It's really just plain sad. I think the worst part is how the parents reacted-"One little mistake" What?! I agree with ana, this was no mistake at all. They planned the whole thing! In the time they spent planning this, they could have been studying and actually earned their grades. Instead they earned lots of attention from the press, which is not something they should be proud of.
Cheating isn't against the law, but breaking into a school is! However, just because something isn't illegal doesn't mean it's right. It's not illegal for me to eat McDonalds every day for the rest of my life, but that doesn't mean I should!
Something has to be done to reduce the amount of cheating in our society. I'm sure many people have done things similar to this in order to cheat. Maybe if these boys are sent to jail, other people will think twice before they do so again!
I think this is a case of more than "just cheating." They broke into the school and even attempted to steal exam answers. And I disagree with ham sandwich. Just because everyone cheats, doesn't mean it's right. And saying everyone does it doesn't make it right either. I think that if the school didn't turn the students over to the police, in a way, the school is condoning their actions because breaking and entering and stealing are very serious crimes.
what is there to say about cheating it is human nature these days to take the short cut and thats what kids do it is seriously wrong but our society is based on the easy way out....Kids are being misled!
I would like to say one small statement about this.
If teens weren't pressured so much by being told that doing your best isn't always fine, our schools would see a huge decrease in cheating. The people I know who cheat are the ones who would do all of the work themselves if they didn't come home from school activities at 7 o'clock at night, eat dinner once they get home, work from 8 o'clock till close, then at midnight have two tests to study for, a research paper due the next day, some homework from the other classes, and, OH YEA... By the way, they have to be at school by 7 a.m. for band. Teenagers are becoming more and more stressed out and I believe that the whole reason for why attend school is being overlooked. Don't we attend school in order to LEARN and PREPARE OURSELVES for the real world? I can tell you right now that if this is still the reason why we go to school, then I am probably failing in 2/3 of my classes. The reason is because we don't learn! All we do, in the majority of my classes, is get through the material as fast as possible and take a test. After that one test, I forget just about everything I needed to know for that test and begin to intall the next chapter's information into my short memory part of my brain. O yea, and prepare us for the "Real World"? Give me a break! The majority of curriculum is random lessons put together because the teachers have to do them. So far, I have no idea why I need to know who killed who in some battle some hundreds of years ago and why I need to know the details of a book written Before Christ? Why don't we learn stuff that matters to our lives and future instead of irrevelent garbage that plays no part in who we will become and/or where we will go in life?
Cheating is wrong we learn... but even though it is repeated over a billion time people still do it and it is sad because sometimes they get ahead because of it but sometimes they get caught. And it's sad to think of it that way because then it doesn't seem like such an immoral thing to do rather it seems like just another every day risk. Somehow there should be a crack down on cheating but like everything else there is no perfect way. I think it's silly to blame a crime on stress...every high school student is under stress trying to juggle school work and activities and being the best person you can be but every high school student also knows the difference between right and wrong. So I don't feel sorry for these students who feel it was just a small mistake (which it might have been) because admitting it was a mistake is a admitting you knew it was wrong and shouldn't have done it! That's the risk... that's life... tough cookies!
I agree with putting them in jail. They broke an entry. They committed a crime. Maybe they should have thought through their idiotic plan. How they thought they would get away with this and not get caught is beyond me. These kids are stupid and deserve to go to jail. It's a law... no exceptions to laws. I still can't believe they spent that much time and effort to steal the exam.. when they could have easily just been at home studying.. :).
The students were stupid to try to steal the answers for the test, but I think the school overreacted; they could have handled the situation better. The kids weren't harming anyone and never planned to harm anyone. They were desperate students under a lot of pressure to get good grades. I think that instead of arresting them, people should look into how much their teachers and parents are stressing the importance of good grades. There are more important things in life, believe it or not.
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