When do we start teaching kids that cheating is wrong? Do we let them get away with it while in school, then hope they learn as adults? With the proliferation of homework questions on here, when do we start saying, this is how, now do it yourself?

I agree. And when we DON'T do it for them, we get ragged on for not being nice.

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by Keysha on March 31st, 2008

Sooooooooo true!

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by Stillme FBB on April 1st, 2008

There is an old saying, "It takes parents to have a child, it takes a village to raise them." A parent has to set the foundation, but every person the child comes into contact with helps build on it. Would you give a child answers to homework and/or test questions? Or would you tell them HOW to do it, and let them learn? If you would do it for them, where does it end? Do you purchase cigarettes and alcohol for them? That's cheating, too. Do you cheat on your S/O, showing them, by example, that cheating is ok? Where does it end?

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by Keysha on March 31st, 2008

I don't believe that. You are never too old to learn.

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by Keysha on April 1st, 2008

I think Rosie is dead on. How do parents teach a child not to cheat when their credibility is shot? Perhaps other influences besides the parents could undo some of the damage, but the fact remains that the child will still be observing parents that are cheats themselves. Tough one.

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by Andy Is Wicked Married to Penal Colony on April 1st, 2008

Hi, JK..parents are the only role models children have for the first few years..children are sponges..they absorb a great deal..grownups don't give them enough credit..some parents treat their children as pieces of furniture..they are not furniture. They soak in everything. I agree that you are never too old to learn..but I think it is easier to learn how to do something then it is to unlearn how to be someone :)

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by RosieGHM Jetpacker on April 2nd, 2008

Thanks, Andy, for the props! :)

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by RosieGHM Jetpacker on April 2nd, 2008

I'm the youngest of 9. In the past that may have been true. I don't believe it is, anymore. Households often need 2 parents to work to survive. There are outside influences from day one on children now. It is not just parents. And to say that they are formed by age 3 is VERY wrong. As an example, I have a niece that has always been a good kid. One day she went down in the laundry room with her mom, and started in. She was 12. When my sister told her to knock it off, she told my sister, "I've talked to my friends. I'm not stupid. Touch me and I'll make a bruise on myself and you go to jail for child abuse!" My sister had never done more than spank her. She even admitted it. My sister had enough. she calmly went over to her, grabbed her shirt, put her up against the wall, and said, "Take your friend's advice against your mother, DAUGHTER, when we both know you have never been abused in your life, and know that if I AM an abuser, I'll be out of jail before you leave the hospital."

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by Keysha on April 2nd, 2008

THAT ended THAT. Kids learn early, but, like so many, look for the easy way to do things. If their friends tell them, "Hey, go to AB and get the answers given to you, then we can go do this or that!" which do you think they will do? Tell their friends, "no, Mom says cheating is wrong, so I will sit here and spend the next hour doing homework," or agree and run for the cheat? And when they find out it IS easier, well, why not try again? Bad behavior is easy to learn.

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by Keysha on April 2nd, 2008

Just tried to post a lengthy comment and it disappeared. I didn't just make up the statistics, JK..I read some child psychology books years ago..by age 3 a child's view of the world is getting formed and by age 6 it is set..if a child is raised to know the difference between right and wrong, cheating and being honest, being dishonorable and being honorable, he will not change who he/she is to suit so-called "friends". Those kids who allow others to do their thinking might have had parents who were involved elsewhere, and maybe not good role models. I don't doubt your experience..however, it is not my experience. :)

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by RosieGHM Jetpacker on April 2nd, 2008

I understand that. I'm just saying that in today's world, it is not realistic. Times do change, and I can give example after example of what I feel is the way it works. Personally known examples, even.

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by Keysha on April 2nd, 2008

Well, of course, my "kid" is 42..that was a different time and I do realize that there are many more negative influences on today's kid..however, I still maintain that if you have a core belief that resonates with you and you've been taught right from wrong, you will do the right thing. No one has ever been able to talk me into anything I didn't want to do..no one has ever talked my kid into doing anything he didn't want to do..and I know young people who are the exact same way...so it has as much to do with the strength of the young person as it does with the seductive and peer-pressure influences that exist.

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by RosieGHM Jetpacker on April 2nd, 2008

I agree on the main point. I think we need to agree to disagree on the rest. If it is a 'little cheat' then they do it. And getting the answers to homework, which is the whole point of this question, is a 'little cheat'. And I still feel that if they learn they can do it, it continues. Arisztid has spotted 1 or 2 people wanting answers to nursing school questions. *I* don't want a nurse that cheated their way through school. I may not be able to stop them, but I don't have to contribute to the problem! :D

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by Keysha on April 2nd, 2008

I think you're right, my friend..we agree on some parts and don't on others...Happy Wednesday! :) ((hugs))

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by RosieGHM Jetpacker on April 2nd, 2008

((hugs)) Same to you!

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by Keysha on April 2nd, 2008

Thank you, honey! :)

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by RosieGHM Jetpacker on April 2nd, 2008

Perhaps. But I still think we should not provide the answers.

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by Keysha on April 1st, 2008

I never suggested we should. I never condone cheating, I am simply suggesting that the school system is not set up to serve all children. My son does his own homework, and always has.

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by anonymous on April 1st, 2008

:) You are a good parent.

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by Keysha on April 1st, 2008

I try to be. It certainly isn't easy. Thank you, Keysha. :)

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by anonymous on April 1st, 2008

I'd rather not find out. Did you know there is at least 1 that is asking for answers to nursing school questions? I'd rather have a nurse that knows over one that gets their answers on AB!

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by Keysha on April 1st, 2008

Yay YOU!!

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by Keysha on April 1st, 2008

That may be. When someone posts an algebra question, however, it is kind of hard to 'put the answer in your own words'.
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And if it is IN your own words for geography, that is fine. But having someone else do the work of finding the source, reading it, understanding it, and paraphrasing it for a student to plug in and get credit is wrong to me. Give them links to the sources and let them do their own research.

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by Keysha on March 31st, 2008

well, i mean in terms of what is and isn't plagiarism. If you're doing a paper on the geography of country X, and the cia factbook says it's mountainous, and you say it "has mountains," you still need to cite the cia factbook. You need to cite every piece of information that wasn't already in your own brain.

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by Cantras on March 31st, 2008

I agree. Unfortunately, kids today feel that if the teacher can't find it on the main sources, it's safe to use verbatim.

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by Keysha on March 31st, 2008

THANK YOU!! One person actually got negged for asking HOW to do a question. And the one that explained the process got it even more!

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by Keysha on April 1st, 2008

Really? People do not use good judgment anymore. . .ughhhhhh. Can we teach kids that too?

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by Andy Is Wicked Married to Penal Colony on April 1st, 2008

I don't have a problem with showing them where to go to find answers on how to do it. I have problems when we don't spit out the answer and get negged for it, get told we are not 'helpful', and so on. When someone comes on and asks how to DO a homework problem, I give them points, and I always points up those that point them in a direction. I don't approve of spitting out the answer for them like a pre-programmed answer machine.

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by Keysha on March 31st, 2008

With a few exceptions, I agree, but it is not our place on AB to teach them that cheating is wrong. We have no evidence that they are cheating on homework. In fact, it could even be a parent who wants the answer to help their child.

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by Yarnlady is happy every day on March 31st, 2008

I will have to agree to disagree. Kind of like looking the other way when someone is stealing or raping someone. If everyone looks the other way, the person gets away with it.

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by Keysha on March 31st, 2008