<p>You could lose a legitimate suit yet not be considered “frivolous.” Some lawsuits seem so ridiculous and lacking merit-some even rise to harassment-those could be deemed frivolous and subject to reimbursement. I read about a man who was drunk, and driving 83 mph in a 45 mph zone, hit and killed a child on a bicycle. He’s suing the parents of the child for his “pain and suffering” because the child wasn’t wearing a helmet. These parents will have to pay for legal services to defend themselves from this creep. </p>
<p>I’m not a lawyer, though, so I’m sure it’s a pipe dream.</p>
<p>I went to Princeton, and we had much more severe penalties for cheating. If you got caught plagiarizing or cheating once, you were suspended for a year. Twice, and you were expelled forever and ever.</p>
<p>I can’t speak for every college and university in the country, but I think this is how cheating is handled at most of them.</p>
<p>So Dad the lawyer, who has Ivies in his sights for his kid, has now broadcast to the Ivy schools and all the others that his kid did something that their universities have even lower tolerance for than does his kid’s high school.</p>
<p>To add to stupid parental lawsuits: A kid was expelled for bringing a homemade bomb to a school near mine, through a code very clearly stated in the district and school guidelines, and the parents are suing for his readmission to the school. </p>
<p>I can’t figure out what they are going to base this lawsuit on.</p>
<p>I didn’t take a single AP class in high school (even though my high school offered) because I had personal conflicts with the teacher. Our school didn’t have an IB program. So yes, for personal reasons, I just didn’t take the toughest course load offered, and <em>shock</em> I had spares (yes, 4 spares in total just in the last 2 years of high school). </p>
<p>I wasn’t an athlete by any means and had no hook at all (I was actually selected against… think asian). I never cheated - not on any school tests, exams, college applications - and I still got into an Ivy. </p>
<p>It’s not fair for cheaters to compete in the same pool as non-cheaters, and being expelled from an IB program is a fair punishment as long as the school had a no-cheating policy. </p>
<p>Happy Mom of One sounds like one of those parents referred to by the teacher. Always making excuses for her kid - in this case someone else’s. It’s never the kids fault.</p>
<p>The co-valedictorian in my high school class has cheated since his freshman year, got caught by two different teachers this year as a senior. The school originally told him he would no longer be co-valedictorian and the two teachers who caught him cheating were going to write letters to colleges he applied to, but mommy threatened a lawsuit and everything was dropped by the school.</p>
<p>Now- the cheater kid was admitted to Harvard!!! Harvard will have a cheater in Fall 2012. </p>
<p>How’s that for justice? The IV league pool has been diluted.</p>
<p>I don’t think that’s fair or accurate, for that matter. That poster has posted twice on this thread: the first time to ask for more details, the second time to express gratitude for more details.</p>
<p>OTOH, there have been students and other parents on this thread implying or stating excuses for the behavior.</p>
<p>I have a copy of the original newspaper article, and you can be SURE I will be mailing copies of it in both fall '13 and spring '14 to each of the eight Ivy’s admission offices.</p>
<p>wel51x, you can be certain they already know. The only folks who are more interested in this sort of news item than CC readers are admissions officers.</p>
<p>As far as I could determine, my son’s hs has no stated policy on cheating. I looked for this because last year he told me of several instances of cheating he had witnessed (and I corroborated the facts with his friends). A student in his history class was having others take her online weekly quizzes, and this was widely known apparently to the students in that class. Also, because they had to leave class early for a ski trip they did part of a quiz at a different time out in the hall with no teacher. Same cheating student asked for and got, answers from other students. I was assured by my son that if he or I reported this cheating he would be ostracized socially and “no one would care.” After asking several other parents advicde and as I couldn’t even find a stated cheating policy I just let it drop. Recently had the same sort of situation in my son’s Boy Scout troop when it was discovered that many of their tents were missing. The Scout leader’s son had boasted to a number of scouts he had stolen them and given them to friends. My son told me about this, assured me that many of the other scouts knew because they had discussed it and no one wanted to “rat out” the thief. Again? The concern if for not being the “rat” as opposed to a thief that is hurting everyone in the group by stealing group property? I was more than proud of my son that when I returned to pick him up at the end of that meeting, he told me he had told several of the adult leaders what was going on. After this week’s meeting I asked and he said the tents had been returned. However, no mention at all as to where they were or a punishment for the thief.</p>
<p>I could not be more pleased with [Teen</a> caught cheating can’t return to Sequoia High honors class, judge rules - San Jose Mercury News](<a href=“Teen caught cheating can’t return to Sequoia High honors class, judge rules – The Mercury News”>Teen caught cheating can’t return to Sequoia High honors class, judge rules – The Mercury News) In this age of lawyering up for anything and everything, it is great to see the courts stand up to these entitled parents with their entitled children. The article says, “There is ‘no dispute that plaintiff (student) did in fact cheat,’ the judge’s ruling states. Plaintiffs’ claim of comparative harm further ignores the significance of proven cheating on the student and upon the integrity of the educational institution in its entirety,” Miram wrote. With hope this will serve as a morality tale to arrogant, narcissistic parents and children who think the rules don’t apply to them. Congratulations to the Sequoia USD on a true victory for teachers, administrators, and schools.</p>
<p>I think it’s sad how this kid isn’t having better values reinforced at home. and I think his dad is promoting the wrong idea- he’s demoralizing his own kid by standing by his actions. But given that cheating is such a prevalent phenomenon, and one that kids are socially pressured into participating in/keeping mum about, might it not be a good idea to have tests more carefully proctored? At my school, we only gave tests in the classroom (not online), there was a set time limit, which could not be extended under any circumstances (but they made sure to provide an ample amount of time to allow the completion of the test), and there was always a proctor in the room. In fact, in our finals, we had two proctors in some rooms, depending on how many students were taking the exam. Granted, it’s a very stringent system, but at least it ensures higher ethical standards which cannot be guaranteed if you’re depending on a teenagers peer-influenced idea of morality.</p>
<p>We are located nearby (but not in same city or district) as the family/school in this story. It certainly got a lot of local news coverage because a lot of us have witnessed stuff like this happening, especially with lawyer parents.
What I have always worried about: 1)I prefer that nobody cheat, lie, or steal, plagiarize etc. I oppose such behavior - I know it’s WRONG.
2)I am concerned about uneven treatment of different students, when there IS a suspicion (or determination) of such misbehavior by high school students.
It strongly seems to me, in my nearby city where there are a lot of lawyers, including retired mommy lawyers from Harvard, that students have an ADVANTAGE with such parents. Extreme finessing of the system, pressure, contacts, tactics. Threatened lawsuits.
So - the school/district need to be transparent to assure all that each student receives equal due process and treatment, even if “every situation is different” that does NOT mean highpowered aggressive parents should give their students an advantage. Teens sign forms indicating they understantd the student handbook, they will not plagiarize, etc. and then a few, at least, do so, and it is unfair when some “get away with it” and go on to Stanford, as famously happened in our district a few years ago.</p>
<p>“the school/district need to be transparent to assure all that each student receives equal due process and treatment, even if “every situation is different” that does NOT mean highpowered aggressive parents should give their students an advantage.”</p>
<p>This is an important point. Not mentioned in this thread is the fact that the Berghouse mom, Susan Berghouse, is an administrator in the very same school as her son attends, Sequoia. When ‘entitled’ kids, whether because they have parents in charge, parents as attorneys, or too much money/power for their own good, ■■■■■ around for kids to cheat from, it creates a toxic environment. I consider it bullying because the effect is the same; as in this case, the students who were copied from were punished the same as the one copying. No word, however, on whether the students who were coerced into giving away their journal entries got the lesser, negotiated punishment of only being kicked out of honors lit class or if they are still being banned from the IB program and having their transcripts marked as cheaters.</p>
<p>Is there a new question parents should ask about the school/school district? As in how many opportunists with money or connections will be trolling after my child to cheat off him/her? It makes one wonder, huh?</p>