Wayne’s Blog

Why does cheating bother me so much?  Why does it make me so mad?   I’ve been asking myself these questions… and many more… so I thought I owed it to my students to try to explain it.  I hope this helps.  I also hope this will help future students.

As it turns out, the answer to the question is also the exact same reason I hate excuses, and thoroughly dislike late work, lackadaisical performance, poor attendance, coming into class late, etc., etc., etc. 

The answer is because I feel just as strongly, but on the opposite end of the spectrum, about my job and each and every one of my students.   I really do love teaching and every single one of my students.  That love is the main reason those things bother me so much.  If I didn’t care, it wouldn’t matter.

I put everything I have into every class I teach.  When I have really large classes, by the end of the semester I’m completely drained both physically and mentally.  I make my classes much more labor intensive for me than I have to, but I believe I have to teach work ethic by example.  I think you learn best by doing and thinking, by active learning.  That’s why late work is disrespectful to me, I feel like all the work I assign is good for everyone… or I wouldn’t assign it.  If it has no real-world value, I don’t do it.

Then, when I’ve given it all I have, and I’m worn out, when something happens like cheating, or several excuses offered in a short period of time, I react more harshly than normal because it bothers me more.  Things like that will just sap any energy or compassion I have left.  It’s proof that when you do something for the shear love of it, like I do with teaching, that energy can turn against you.

Usually over the semester break I reenergize and at the start of the new semester I’m always excited to get started on a new semester; a new adventure.  That’s the way I look at it, like I’m guiding my students on an adventure.  It’s my job to show them all I can.  I’ve been there before so I have a little knowledge about where we’re going, or, I at least have an idea about what’s most important to see, do, and learn.  As the guide, I’m supposed to show everyone all the important stuff that we have time for.

I also don’t see my students as students; I see each student as a colleague; friend; equal.  I have to look at it that way, because we’re all in this together, I’m growing as much as any of my students.    

I guess in reality students are the customer, but what they’re buying is not a product from the shelf.  From most college classes, students are simply buying the knowledge they need to be a better employee in the future.  They’re buying the opportunity to pursue a degree that will prove they know some stuff, and prove they’ve accomplished a long term difficult goal which involved figuring out how to play a bunch of different professor’s games. 

In my classes, I want my students to gain so much more than just knowledge so I made the decision long ago to take it a lot further.  There’s a whole lot more that students can get from college, things that aren’t in textbooks, things like learning how to network, build character, develop work ethic, and gain valuable life experiences, how to give and get respect, and develop civility and sophistication, and many more things that are incredibly valuable in life.  Things I learned the hard way.

I know that the earlier in life you learn to play the game, the better chance you have of reaching your definition of success.   And, for most people, I know that what happens in the high school and college years will have an exponentially larger impact on how your life looks than any other period.  Wish I could go back, but since I can’t, the best thing I can do it try to get my students to see that.

Students who realize there’s so much more to college than just lectures and tests are the ones who get the most from it.  These students look at college as an opportunity instead of a necessary evil.  College isn’t about grades or education at all really; it’s about transforming yourself into a confident person solely and completely in charge of your own future, destiny, and success or failure.

That’s what I intend for students to get from my classes.   When students choose to take my class, I try my best to show them all of that as well as the content of the class itself.  Sometimes, I’ve learned, those lessons are hard for some to learn.

I still get a thrill at the feeling I have in my chest when I look around a room of my students.  It’s more than just pride.  It’s exciting to be so conscious of the fact that I’m helping my students become the kind of people they’re becoming and I’m getting to watch it happen.  It’s an awesome feeling to know I’m having an impact, positive in most cases I think.

I know I’m not kidding myself when I say I care a great deal about each and every student and their potential.  I know it from the sadness or sense of loss I feel when I have students in my class that I don’t get to know well.  Some students simply keep a low profile and if I’ve got too much going on they can go through an entire semester without me having the opportunity to get to know them.  I regret that happening every time it does.

I thrive on developing friendships with every student… every single student, so missing out on a friendship is hard for me, but then a friend doing you wrong is too.

Which brings me back to the question at hand, why does cheating and all the other things bother me so much?

If you haven’t figured it out already, when I have all of the above invested into each and every student, and when I completely trust everyone in my class because I have nothing but the best of intentions and I expect nothing but the best of intentions from every one of my students, it’s personal and painful if that gets violated.   I don’t like the obvious lack of honesty, integrity, and poor work ethic, but that’s not what bothers me the most.  It’s the violating my trust that bothers me so much.  It’s the stabbing me in the back and then spitting in my face feeling I get when someone disrespects all that I put into my classes.

That’s the problem with caring; the people you care about can hurt you the most.  And, when you feel like you bend over backwards to give your students all you can, all you have, any disrespect is personal.

I know why most professors keep a distance between them and their students; I know why they don’t get to know students very well.  The disappointment and pain is too much for them.  They probably learned from experience that there’s just too much risk in letting students get too close… I understand that!

I hope I never reach that point.

Thursday night, December 11th, 2008.  I finished giving my final exams today.  Thank God today was uneventful.  I’m so thankful for a day with no anger. 

I gave tests every day this week, and each of the first three days there was cheating going on.  There were several people cheating on my Leadership final, a class with a logo containing the words Character, Integrity, Values, Morals, Honor, Honesty, Trustworthiness, etc., etc., etc..

I can’t think of anything that makes me madder than somebody cheating.  Nothing. (And I really hate people who ride in the left lane of the interstate.) 

Most of the students cheating are basically good people, some really good people, though maybe stupid and most assuredly lazy.  They at least have the sense to go to college to get an education.  However, most are too stupid to even cheat well enough to get a decent grade.  Most of the people that I know were cheating didn’t even make a high enough score to pass the class or make a C or B.  Several in my Leadership class where over half of the 70 students made A’s.  Stupid and lazy!

I did have one student who really made me feel good.   She got sick of some cheating going on and tried to do something about it.  We need more people like her.  Lots more.

So, I got to thinking about some things:

Why do people cheat?  Do cheaters always get what’s coming to them?   What does it hurt?  Do cheaters reach the same levels of success as non-cheaters?   Why should I care if students cheat?   Why does it make me so mad (mad may not be strong enough… insanely furious may be more accurate)?   How can I get students to see how disgusting cheating is?  How can I keep cheating from ever even crossing student’s minds?   I know there’s no such thing as an incorruptible human, I break the speed limit all the time, so is simple cheating on a test any different?   Why don’t other students who are not cheating get as mad about the cheating as I do?  Why don’t more of them do something about it?  If cheaters knew everyone in the class was watching and would not stand for cheating, would cheating cease to happen?

I’m going to try to answer my questions in future blogs.

Being Remarkable is standing out above the crowd… being a rebel is almost always standing out below the crowd.

Which one do you think leads to greater success and more fun in life?