INTRO...
Our education system has changed a lot over the years, causing more and more children like us to receive better educations and succeed in the world, and everyone expects so much of our generation now- like we’re the solution. But sometimes, there is so much stress put upon us, piling up until we get over-loaded with work and homework and tests, and then we realize….we forgot to study for that history test. So, the question is….should I, can I…. just cheat? Here are some different viewpoints on this issue, and a review of their reliability and accuracy.
"Address Real Cause of Cheating"
Yes- cheating is caused by too much pressure
In the article "Address the Real Cause of Cheating" the author, Bob Schaeffer, tells teachers and parents about the cause of low general test scores, and the effect being kids in school cheating. Many schools want higher average standardized test scores, and they wish to do it the easy way- allowing loop holes for students to cheat and having classrooms that give tests on a constant basis. The author's viewpoint throughout the article is that in the long-term we should encourage better study habits in the students so that they don't feel the temptation to cheat on homework or on tests. The author believes cheating is completely wrong and should not be tolerated at all, whether kids are being too pressured or not. I believe the author has this viewpoint because they don't give any conflicting evidence on the topic at all. It's simply a one-sided argument. The author also uses words such as "misuse" and academic irresponsibility" to make a more negative perspective on the causes of cheating, to show us his bias. Instead he could have used very neutral words like "unintentional". Yet he didn't, to let us know what he believe about cheating in school. He even uses a quote from Ronald Reagan "trust but verify" to persuade the reader using ethos to think that it is unethical to cheat in any school situation. The reliability of this source is proved because the author gives us his sources for information in a "works cited" at the end of his article, which was written fairly recently, March of 2011. Also, he is a writer for USA Today, which is notable for being a trusted source.
USA TODAY
Mar 11, 2011, p. A.10
Copyright © Mar 11, 2011 USA Today Information Network
http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SMO0040-0-2924&artno=0000312716&type=ART
"Easing Testing Pressure Won't Save Students"
No- the solution to cheating isn't going "easier" on kids
In his article "Easing Testing Pressure Won't Save Students", Jay Matthews compares and contrasts his view of the issue and the other views, and backing all the views up with personal experience and knowledge. He is mainly addressing the parents and teachers who may actually believe that going easier on kids will benefit them and not cause them to cheat. His viewpoint throughout the article is that allowing the teachers to go easy on kids when it comes to tests and finals will only let the kids become slackers and won't be ready for college or even a job. Also, he argues about how the opposite side thinks that going easier on kids with eliminate cheating, giving a different perspective other than his own. However, this article is clearly to persuade the reader that cheating is going to happen in schools, regardless of what teachers and administrators do in an attempt to stop it. The author uses certain words like "lost faith in the students" and "failure" when talking about teachers abilities to trust their students and the students ability to learn without cheating. This shows his bias about how it's more of the teachers fault for not teaching children like us well in the first place. this is obviously persuasive because he uses ethos giving quotes from investigators and agreeing or disagreeing with them by giving his own background knowledge. Overall, it's clear that Jay Matthews believes we, as students, shouldn't cheat, yet he believes tests and work shouldn't be "dumbed down" for us either. The accuracy of this source is proved by the fact that the author is a writer for many newspapers and magazines, especially the Washington Post. This article also was published quite recently, in July of 2011. The author also cites all of his own sources at the bottom of the article, telling us where he got his information too.
http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SMO0040-0-2924&artno=0000315808&type=ART
"Students Lie, Cheat, Steal, but Say They're Good."
Is cheating the cause of more misbehavior too?
In the article "Students Lie, Cheat and Steal but Say They're Good" David Crary of Associated Press, informs educators and parents of young adult students that cheating may lead to other behavioral issues too such as plagiarism and stealing information. the author gives us quotes from people like professors and superintendent who believe the cause of cheating is too much pressure and opportunity and the effect is kids behaving worse and worse, giving us the text structure of cause and effect. The author isn't really giving us, the readers, a clear cut viewpoint on the topic. He is trying to remain more neutral overall. he does include some conflicted evidence, but not much. Which gives the reader the impression that they favor one side compared to the other. The author lets readers see a bit of a slant through not having a lot of conflicting evidence, but the author doesn't use any extremely emotional words to let their view on the topic show through. When he quotes people with credentials he uses "said" instead of "argues" or "disagrees". However they also give evidence on what cheating may cause in young adults like us, by telling us other results from the survey they took. This source is reliable because they have other sources in which they got information and they cite those sources too. Of course, there were no ads on the website, just like in the other two articles. The author is part of Associated Press, which means they have a good writing background and are a trusted source for information and fairly recent facts about my topic.. However, this was the only article I found that was trying not to be bias and trying not to persuade the reader completely.
http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SMO0040-0-2924&artno=0000286691&type=ART
...CONCLUSION
Cheating is very popular in our society, our generation specifically. It is easier and takes stress off our backs for that one assignment, or that one test... but hurts us in the long run, throughout our entire education. But there are many kinds of cheating, and it doesn't only happen in our early school years, cheating happens in adulthood too. So, these articles aren't the only viewpoints about cheating. There is so much more out there, as I have learned from researching "cheating in school".
