Cheating

Today as I was observing a class take a test, I was amazed as usual by how brazen kids are here about cheating, and how helpless the teachers often are. Some just think the students are lazy and don't do anything, some actually tell students answers, and others give up trying to stop it since zeros mean nothing here.

What surprises me the most though, is that students even care enough to cheat, because some don't care about anything else. My main problem here is that grades don't matter, so there is nothing to threaten students with (a low grade for example) if they are not working or to motivate them. Often grades are arbitrary, and it is rare for a student to get a low one, and unheard of for one to be held back, even if they do and learn nothing in class. and by nothing I mean literally NOTHING. It is also a systematic problem, not merely a teacher/school one. For kids who don't plan on attending university, why do they care about grades. And grades don't actually have an effect on where you are accepted if you DO want to attend a university. Everyone takes a national test in the summer that determines acceptances, and so students often hire private tutors to study and don't need to worry about grades. It's a bad cycle, and I am thankful that many students want to learn anyways, and are excited to do their work.

But today made me think back on some of the funny times I have caught students cheating: For homework I often gave a vague "write 5 sentences about anything you want"

• In one of my classes I had 7 students who SWORE they didn't copy. They all wrote "There are many dicks in my room"
• I also had 5 boys copy the best girl student. They wrote "I am wearing a skirt and pink sweater" I definitely used that opportunity to embarrass them, and they then copied off of boys from then on.
• My favorite comes from a girl who could not even answer "what is your name?" She wrote some lyrics from a Jay z rap song: "You trippin' when you ain't sippin'. We give a damn about the drama that your dude bring. I'm just tryin' to change the color on your mood ring"