Cheating Situation

FlirmLi · 06-04-2012, 01:17 AM

well, theres a kid in my class who treats me badly and talks about my friends behind their backs. So I dislike him. He and I are in "competition" for admission. He certainly has a pretty good edge over me right now.

But he cheats on virtually every test and even brags about cheating in other classes. While I work hard to get B's he cheats and gets A's, which inflates his GPA.  I am also pretty sure that his GPA advantage over me is quite related to his cheating--when cheating is removed from the equation, like on SAT's and even some tests that he has claimed he didnt cheat on, I almost always do better than him.

someone who also dislikes him gave me photographic evidence of him cheating on the Final Exam (to clarify, the test assembled by our teacher). If I give the picture to our teacher, he could be thrown out of National Honor Society, refused a letter of recommendation, and marked as a cheater on his transcript. it could give me a definite advantage in college admission and allow me to get back at him for being a huge pain. but if people find out i "tattled", i will be considered a rat and a tattletale; and I would have to live with having made such a decision for not entirely pure of heart motives. Should I turn him in for cheating to our teacher?

astults13 · 06-04-2012, 01:20 AM

Absolutely, as long as you have concrete evidence. And ask the teacher not to mention your name to other people. Whether or not you report him and he gets in trouble for it, his cheating will eventually catch up to him.

But anyways, if I were you, I'd report him hands down.

alwaysleah · 06-04-2012, 01:30 AM

Though I'm usually in favor of letting people dig their own grave and not turning them in, in this case I would absolutely turn him in. Ask your teacher to keep it confidential.

katamariforever · 06-04-2012, 03:25 AM

It would be best to turn him into the teacher and keep it confidential. Depending on your schools cheating policy, however, your bio teacher may just void the exam. It's a PITA to deal with cheating.

I would recommend submitting a formal complaint to his counselor as well.

UKgirl23 · 06-04-2012, 03:43 AM

Do you really want to be the one who tells the school and ruins his college chances? Firstly, I just see it as unnecessary, even if he is cheating. Also, it may not be the same at your school, but if someone turned another person in for cheating their life would be made hell by the other students, do you really want to go through that?

FlirmLi · 06-04-2012, 06:57 AM

LitNuclearMatch, Our school has a 12 percent admission rate. They have never admitted more than one person per year over the past decade. I think it's reasonable to infer that they will not change their admissions standards just for us.

UKgirl, that's why I would keep it confidential and anonymous if I report him.

cc123sb · 06-04-2012, 07:00 AM

While I don't condone cheating, it sounds like you reporting him has huge consequences that will ruin his future. No matter how much you hate him (or it least it sounds like it), you'll always regret ruining someone's future later in life.

Ideally, if there's a way for him to fail the tests his cheated on (or be severely penalized) with no other repercussions, by all means report it. But it sounds like its all or nothing, and in this case you just have to comfort yourself with that cheating will catch up to him.

If you guys are both strong candidates, you will both be accepted.

artemis95 · 06-04-2012, 07:05 AM

But reporting him doesn't mean YOU ruined his life -- he took care of that by not only cheating but being stupid enough to brag about it. He should have to face the consequences. One thing to keep in mind though -- even if you tell the teacher in confidence, that doesn't mean he/she will keep your confidence, plus there's also the person who gave you the evidence. Once more than one person knows a secret, it's not a secret. If you can live with the repercussions of everyone knowing you turned him in, do it. Just keep all possible scenarios in mind (like someone said, the teacher might not even do anything about it).

AustroHungarian · 06-04-2012, 11:16 AM

Report him. Do it. You are actually helping him; if he were to continue cheating in college, he would, most likely, get caught and kicked out.

I would turn in the evidence anonymously, i.e. leave the teacher, the guidance counselor, and the principal a letter with a copy of the picture, and let them choose a course of action.

GaussianInteger · 06-04-2012, 12:30 PM

I agree with the previous 2 posters. I would definitely report him. You are not ruining his future: he already ruined his future. If he is accepted to a college, he is stealing someone else's stop who deserved to get in and is ruining that person's future. I understand that there is another motive in wanting to report him, but I feel that this is the honest thing to do. This isn't just one isolated incident of cheating either--this is a hardened cheater who brags about it. I certainly wouldn't want to think that people like him are getting into college over people who worked hard and didn't stoop to cheating. As mentioned before though, I would realize that there's a possibility that you will become known as the one who turned him in.

On the other hand, I think it very unlikely that will necessarily only admit one of you. If they've only admitted 0 or 1 in the past, I think it just means that the school didn't have 2 applicants they deemed qualified.

cc123sb · 06-04-2012, 03:32 PM

It seems like your reporting him for all of the wrong reasons. If you have a strong ethical concern with cheating and would report anyone you saw cheating, then by all means go for it. But, reporting someone for cheating for your own personal gain is just as bad (if not worse) than cheating itself.

If you end up acting on this, it seems like neither you nor the cheater are deserving of attending a prestigious university. Reporting a cheater due to competition is evidence of total lack of maturity and ethics.

Cheating on tests doesn't justify your own cheating to get ahead in admissions. However, if you think it over and find that none of this is driven from competition or getting a definite advantage, by all means go ahead and report the cheater.

ahsmuoh · 06-04-2012, 03:51 PM

How did he get the picture? Did he really take it during the exam? Could it be photoshopped?

UKgirl23 · 06-04-2012, 03:52 PM

Maybe you should just show the kid the picture and threaten to turn him in if he doesn't stop cheating, that way you can beat him in class and you don't have to ruin his future

michaeljay · 06-04-2012, 03:54 PM

Let him live his own life, even though what he is doing is definitely wrong do not let the mistakes of the teenage version of him potentially destroy his future, especially since it is just for your own selfish gain. It will catch up to him on his own if it really is that bad. Don't play god.

Elleya · 06-04-2012, 04:47 PM

Meh. Definitely weird that the kid with the proof didn't turn him in; i'd definitely check that.

I would personally turn the kid in. I have no tolerance for people who cheat like that; however, as michaeljay points it, it will certainly catch up to him. But also remember that there may be consequences for YOU, seeing as how he's been cheating for all this time and nobody has said anything. It sounds stupid, but i've heard of it happening, because by allowing it to go on, administration may look at that as condoning cheating.

So it's up to you. It could go either way, especially if that proof is fake.