<p>Someone sent me a link to this story; gotta file this under “you can’t make this stuff up”. According to [Cheating</a> controversy - SJ Mercury News](<a href=“Cheating controversy grows into angry, national dialogue about ethical breakdowns – The Mercury News”>Cheating controversy grows into angry, national dialogue about ethical breakdowns – The Mercury News)
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Perhaps it’s the kid’s CHEATING that will harm his future. I guess that didn’t occur to either the kid or the kid’s dad.</p>
<p>…what the heck?</p>
<p>Well, that’s a smart move on the father’s part. Now any and every one can read about this.</p>
<p>I would like to be able to drop kids from financial aid eligibility if they cheat. Why should taxpayers support cheaters? That would really start the lawsuits at colleges.</p>
<p>Most FA is not from taxpayers, but I take your point.</p>
<p>Strange. I agree with cptofthehouse. The father has publicized this and Ivies will now be privy to it. How strange, when that is the dad’s concern.</p>
<p>Can you imagine (okay maybe pity) the teachers who will be asked to write college recommendation letters? No way would I write one! I might get sued if it’s not good enough.</p>
<p>Interesting thought on FA.</p>
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<p>Wow. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know this dad’s own cheating history?</p>
<p>Honestly, can’t these kids just petition to join the IB program? What kind of HS blocks students permanently out of an IB program based on one 10th grade class? I can understand a parent having a beef with that kind of policy if that is the case.</p>
<p>We don’t know enough about what this “cheating” consisted of. Did the kids work as a team on an assignment that wasn’t a team project? If so, is much of the work at this HS or in this class normally team work? Is it a case of a study group whose members don’t understand that working together to learn the material doesn’t mean that they don’t have to write it up individually? What kind of discussion did the teacher have with these students about the work, and how was it determined that their actions were in violation of school policy? Was this a first time event, or was it a repeat offense?</p>
<p>The article makes it look like the parent is out of his mind. However without the details of the case, we can’t know for sure.</p>
<p>The article didn’t say that they’ll be blocked out of the IB class, which is part of why this is so ridiculous. </p>
<p>They are dropped from the one sophomore class and then are allowed to resume IB the following year.</p>
<p>I do know they check those IA and extended essays and deny them the IB diploma, if they are caught cheating. The school is doing the kids a favor and punishing them now before they start the programme. I know atleast one kid that didn’t get his IB diploma over cheating on the extended essay and others because they didn’t want to do the essay.</p>
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<p>Depends on the school. Some can be petitioned while others had more stringent entrance requirements like the IB program an older cousin attended. </p>
<p>If the cause of being expelled out of the IB program was due to cheating…I don’t see what’s the issue…especially considering that kid and his parents signed agreements which included a stipulation that he’d be kicked out if he was found to be cheating. </p>
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<p>Actually, the nature of the cheating was covered in previous googleable reports…he and some other kids copied each other’s required journal entries which was a requirement of the IB program and was to be done by the individual student alone. When caught and punished, the kid in question further complicated matters by complaining about the “Tyranny” of his punishment for cheating on his Facebook page…which goes to show how unrepentant he was of his cheating act. </p>
<p>Even his lawyer father admitted his son cheated…he just doesn’t agree he should be punished beyond doing extremely cushy community service projects he proposed…such as serving as an “after-school teacher’s assistant”. </p>
<p>It also has the appearance of well-off entitled father throwing his weight around to protect an entitled son…especially considering he’s an established practicing lawyer. </p>
<p>In one of the articles, another parent who wasn’t as well-off/connected stated her son was severely punished and was actually glad he was punished at this stage so there’s a greater chance he won’t repeat this in college/life…where the consequences tend to be greater.</p>
<p>This story has been all over the local paper for days! The punishment was only being dropped from soph. honors English down to regular English for the rest of the semester. The school offered to not have any notation re: cheating on his record and to allow the son to timely enter the school’s IB program as a junior. The father refused because he claimed not taking soph. honors English would harm his son’s chances at an Ivy League. On the scale of it, the cheating was not major (copying homework of journal entries) and I think the punishment fit the crime and was even generous. The dad is clearly off his rocker.
At my son’s high school, some students got into a teacher’s locked desk and stole test answers and then used them on the semester final. That is major, I’m glad they were caught! As I understand it, the school expelled the ringleaders and suspended anyone who knew about it and did not report it. IMHO that is also an appropriate punishment. I haven’t heard of any lawsuits about it, I guess none of them have crazy lawyer parents!<br>
What a waste of time and money for the school district to have to defend this case. Hopefully it will get tossed on summary judgment. There is apparently a preliminary hearing set for mid-May but that probably won’t resolve the case.</p>
<p>The consequences seem to fit the deed, and certainly are not future wrecking. Dad should let it go, and hope son learned his lesson. The dad seems to be teaching his son that getting into an Ivy is more important than integrity. </p>
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<p>I admire this parent. And I hope that her son has indeed learned his lesson.</p>
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<p>That is extremely generous IMO. If he tried to pull the same stunt at my urban public magnet, the usual practice would be to give an automatic F for the entire course, notation of the cheating will be entered on the GC report/transcript to colleges/workplaces, and possible suspension if it was the first offense. </p>
<p>If he then proceeded to show unrepentant behavior by arguing with teachers/admins or by posting on his FB page, the admins could raise the ante by warning him/parents that they could permanently expel him from the school for his offense according to the rules he and parents agreed to by accepting admission there.</p>
<p>That’s not to say that my HS has no cheaters or that cheating isn’t a serious problem. Rather…it is precisely because cheating has been such a serious issue that the school admins tended to crack down hard on those who were caught…including several classmates I know of.</p>
<p>And of course, dad is a lawyer.</p>
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According to one article
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<p>I think this is absurd. The kid knew the rules, signed an honesty pledged and failed. Whatever happened to being held accountable for your own choices? And it is my opinion that perhaps one of the reasons the kid felt compelled to cheat is that his father has made an “ivy league education” the only obtainable goal worth achieving. To hell with character and integrity, it’s all about academic accolades, even those unearned. There are a lot of thing in this world I find disheartening, but I find this disgusting. Basically, the only thing this dad is teaching his kid is that cheating is excusable and defensible. It’s kind of like being just a “little bit pregnant.” You either are or you aren’t. You either cheat to cut corners or you don’t. His kid cheated. Live with it. Better yet, have your kid live with it and LEARN. After all, isn’t that what an education is about?</p>
<p>Thanks for the details everyone! It does look like the dad has lost his mind.</p>
<p>The kid and his father are going to be two additional people I’ll be thinking of when I’m playing Green Day’s “American Idiot” song on my media player while doing my late night walk around my neighborhood.</p>