Ethical delimma - advise needed

2006_grad
Fri, 19 May 2006 00:34:13 +0000

Thanks for all the input. I haven’t decided what to do yet. I keep hearing the words of my mom, “cheaters never prosper” and I want to believe that the cheater will eventually get caught or won’t cut it in college. As quirkymom said, this cheater has been honing his skills for years and hasn’t gotten caught and obviously doesn’t feel guilty about his cheating. I really don’t care much about passing that AP exam. The kid who took the exam was fidgeting so much that I could hardly consentrate. I really like the kid who took the exam and don’t want to get him in trouble. I feel like he must have been pressured to take the exam for his “friend” which is similar to the pressure I’m feeling for not saying anything. My school has a history for not punishing cheaters which I believe causes more cheating. Policy says that cheaters will get zeroes on exams but it never has happened since the kids I know who have been caught are some of the highest ranked kids in school and had the best chances of going to great schools. I was surprised at my lack of disgust for this unethical act but I think that I’ve seen so many similar occurrences over the last four years that I don’t care as much any more. I will however continue to be an ethical student because in the end, I know that what I achieve will mean more to me if I achieve honestly.