Teenage Focus Group Interview

New England Prep School

Topic: Cheating - What's Okay, What's Not

Students from a New England Prep school talk about cheating and why kids do it.

So what about this cheating thing, does it happen?

Amy:  It happens, but it doesn’t mean you’re a bad person.

I know, but Ted Kennedy cheated in Law School and it was a cloud over his presidential run. 

Amy:  Yeah, but law school is a big deal.  It’s not a high school paper.

Heather:  And it’s not like you’ve written something on your arm.  It’s like some kid has their paper next to you and you look at it. 

You don’t think that is cheating?

Heather:  Well, if you are driving down the road and you scoot through a red light, is that breaking the law?  How can you expect me to not glance at a paper?  (I don’t, but I’m just saying if I did.)

Why do kids cheat?

Becky:  Pressure from their parents; I know some kid who is taking five AP classes. His parents expect it.  It’s tough to do.

Lauren:  Yeah, the people who cheat on tests are the ones that need the “A,” and they are thinking of the wrath of their parents.

Mattie:  If you are only working to make your parents happy, then you’ll cheat because you aren’t doing it for yourself. 

Heather:  Also, a lot of parents didn’t go to a school like I am.  My mom is always telling me she always got “A’s,” but she doesn’t get that it is a totally different environment, a totally different kind of school than she went to.

Becky:  Our school is really competitive.  It depends when you came.  If you have been here forever (since elementary school), it’s not like an elite school to you.  But for the kids that came later in 7th or 9th grade, it is.  They put a lot of pressure on themselves.

Lauren:  Some kids don’t realize that they are going to get an “A” anyway.  It’s so funny, like Charlie.  He hasn’t realized that he is going to get “A’s” no matter what.

Why is Charlie going to get “A’s” anyway?

Lauren:  He plays hockey.  They’d never kick him out.  

Mattie:  How many times have they caught him and they never do anything.

Heather:  Oh my god, the sports thing.  Kids stay back a year just so they can be better at their sport for college.  Technically, you are not allowed to repeat a year, but they allow it.

Mattie:  Yeah, some kids are freshman and driving to school!

Sorry Amy, did I hear you say, “the parents want the grade?”

Ali:  … well, yeah …

Becky:  Okay so, Melissa’s Mom wrote her English class essay last year. 

You’re kidding …

Becky:  No, and she took some of it from the web.

Heather:  One kid who is in my Spanish class wouldn’t do her homework, but her parents spoke Spanish so they would write her papers and use tenses and vocabulary that we hadn’t learned in class.  The teacher would say, “I know you didn’t write this.”   But the teacher didn’t do anything.  She was afraid of her; the girl had an attitude.

Mattie:  And a lot of parents – I mean a lot of parents – write their kid’s college essays.

What do the kids think when their parents write their essays?

Amy:  They think they’re stupid.

Lauren:  Annoying.

Mattie:  I think the kids think they’re going to get into a good college. 

Does it bother kids when their classmates cheat? 

Amy:  If you write a paper and get an “A” and it gets selected as the best, it bugs you.  But if it is a small assignment, that doesn’t really matter one way or the other, it’s less important.

Mattie:  I think that the thing that is most annoying is when the kids are already getting a good grade, and they cheat to stay on top.  Then it can raise the curve for everyone, and if you are in the lower end of the curve, it can make your grade lower.  That’s when you really get problems.

So, what’s your advice for parents?

Heather:  Don’t pressure your kids.  Your kids can’t handle the pressure. 

Becky:  If you push them, they will go insane.  They already feel so much pressure – from their teachers, their parents, and their peers.  You have it from all directions.  We don’t need it. 

Amy:  And, some kids actually like to learn and don’t do this stuff.

Lauren:  Some kids just morally won’t do it.