Student Integrity

Christine Pelton, a high school biology teacher, discovered almost a fifth of her students plagiarized their paper from the Internet. Initially, Pelton received her superiors’ support to accuse her students of cheating; the students did plagiarize so they deserved a zero on the assignment. However, some of the parents of the children complained, Pelton was ordered “to go easier on the guilty.” Consequently, Pelton quit her job in protest of the school’s response in a way that some regard as a reflection of the national decline in educational integrity. As a teacher myself, I ask, what should have Pelton done? There is a legitimate problem within school districts all over the nation, but the underlying problem is not as overt as many think.
When I used to teach, students who cheated or plagiarized in any way were punished and would not be let go so easily. In fact, one student that plagiarized a paper in my class was suspended for two weeks and was forced to attend a seminar on academic integrity. In this case, the school took a step to punish the student who did something wrong. Is this not how schools should act? It appears for some schools, reputation is more important than the academic integrity of the school.
This epidemic should not be addressed in a light matter; rather, there is a need for radical change to the educational system itself. This includes the replacement of the school board with actual teachers that understand how to deal with students who cheat and the allowance of teachers to control the punishments given within the classroom. Our current educational system is predicated on the corrupt school board and their lack of interest in the integrity of the students. We need to make the school board include real teachers who understand that cheating is not acceptable in school like Christine