Is an honor code necessary? In any circumstance where a person's integrity is tested, an honor code is essential. Furthermore, an honor code will deter cheating and implement and embed integrity into the school's culture. Regardless of the students who refute to confine themselves into the system, it will ultimately influence everyone under the code. Students will generate a moral sense that weighs the costs and benefits of cheating. With this in mind, I believe that my school should establish an honor code considering that it profoundly influences the culture of the school, it contributes into creating integrity as a habit, and it ensures a safe academic environment.
First, establishing an honor code will mold integrity into a social norm. Likewise, enforcing rules to eliminate cheating and unoriginal content remarkably impacts the culture of the school. By enforcing strict rules and punishments into the school's system, students gradually grow aware and take pre-cautions. As a result, "peer culture [develops] on honor code campuses... [that makes] cheating socially unacceptable"(source F). Though a handful of students may attempt to evade the honor code, the new culture will lead them to be "embarrassed to have other students find
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Unfortunately, integrity is an unfamiliar term in a high school setting as the vast majority of students deem high school as any annoying obstacle rather than a period where they prepare themselves for the future. Establishing an honor code in high school will ensure that high school is beneficial rather than " where they learn little of value"(source F). Furthermore, the honor code ensures the development of integrity before college, when "violating the school's honor code [results] in either drop out or [expulsion]"(Source D). Therefore, starting earlier helps students in the long run for the consequences are severe in higher education
It is proven that the honor code doesn't always work in full effect.Things Don't usually work in full effect at Rockville High school unless there are follow up consequences. Dirmeyer and Cartwright take their position on the topic stating , “our honor code is strictly enforced,and the enforcement is handled by an all-student court.Students convicted of lying or cheating can expect to receive punishment ranging from suspension to exclusion.”(Source C).Rockville high school administration can always revise this rule.Instead of students being suspended for cheating and lying there could be a different punishment. Let's face it,nobody likes to feel like a complete prisoner.It wouldn't hurt for the administers to take action by grabbing ideas
Honor codes and systems are proudly displayed by high schools and colleges alike. These collections of rules are proposed with the hope of achieving the ideal of education: producing productive citizens with integrity. While these systems do provide incentive to follow the clearly stated rules and assist in lessening the effects of favoritism on student punishment for violating rules, they are also open to interpretation as they do not qualify situations based on the severity of the infringement or take into consideration the he-said-she-said aspect of reporting cheating. At my school, Union High School, we do not have an official honor code which leads to extreme crackdowns of authority at the first glimpse of a broken rule in some classrooms and a near absence of rules in others. Because of these disparities in punishment by teachers, a system of increased punishment severity should be created by each teacher and approved by the principle to help promote equitable treatment and provide incentives to follow school guidelines.
The increasing prevalence of honor codes in schools has changed the way students approach academic integrity. Honor codes are sets of regulations that require students to refrain from any sort of cheating and hold their peers accountable. Schools should continue to uphold their current system of honor codes in order to ensure academic integrity within the school while still respecting student privacy. The key to maintaining school honor codes is to involve the students in participating in the decision making aspect of honor codes, as well as enforcing them.
The honor code is a system that many schools use to establish trust with teachers and students by having students report each other for cheating, plagiarizing, stealing, and getting consequences for violating those codes. I argue that it could be improved. I believe that giving students that much power to control each other isn’t a great idea. It may work in some schools but it could easily be corrupted. If you think about it, many students are broke, a student could easily pay the other student to allow them to cheat or copy. It’s an easy bribe and I'm sure it’s been done. I know people would attempt to counter my argument with “that’s why the honor code is there for,” but not everyone goes by their word, there’s always someone to
In recent years, many schools and institutions have introduced an “honor code”. The idea behind an honor code is that, if a student is caught cheating or in violation of the honor code, then there are serious consequences. Also, in some institutions, if a student catches another student violating the honor code, then the students must turn in the violator. While in theory this sounds like a good plan, many cases have shown that this code does not work in a practical application. Even with the introduction of the honor code, many schools have found that students continue to cheat, and students refuse to turn in their peers.
Honor codes are the embodiment of two things – trust and integrity. When schools maintain these honor codes, it gives off many advantages. “Unlike the majority of colleges where proctoring of tests and exams is the responsibility of the faculty and/or administration, many schools with academic honor codes allow students to take their exams without proctors present, relying on peer monitoring to control cheating.” (Source F) By allowing non-monitored tests, the honor code instills a better relationship between staff and students. When a student is having a problem with the class, they will more likely talk to the teacher rather than resort to copying. The code makes staff more trust worthy.
If a college campus harbors an environent where cheating is seen as acceptable and an activity many people participate in, even students with correct morals and no desire to cheat themselves are less likely to report fellow students for unsavory behavior. This can also go a step further and that same student who failed to confront a peer for cheating, may give in to the school’s atmosphere and start cheating themselves. This makes them all the less likely to report other students for fear of appearing hypocritical and/or being reported themselves. A study on honor code effectiveness was completed by Sally Sledge and Pam Pringle at a small public university (Source E). Their results showed that only 8% of students would report a fellow student for cheating. Even more surprisingly, 40% of students anonymously stated that they had “violated the honor code and not been caught”. This points to a very cheater-friendly attitude at this particular school and shows that the honor system is not very effective in this
On April 25, 2016, the students of Mr. Windnagle’s AP English class, period five, hosted a Socratic seminar to discuss the matter of establishing an honor code for Pearl City High School students. They analyzed texts from multiple sources and through a heated debate ultimately concluded that an honor code should be established for all attending students.
The current regulations clearly define cheating, plagiarism and the consequences associated with being caught cheating and requires that students only read through the document and sign that you understand the consequences of cheating. Its simplicity contributes to its effectiveness in deterring cheating among students without the added tension of the possibility of stirring conflict between others. Even if an honor code with a focus on student-enforced reporting of cheaters, it’s unlikely that any students would actively choose to betray their
At basis chandler, my high school, the students are forced to sign an honor code. But even though we sign it, Cheating is a prevalent problem at my school because the honor code is ambiguous, ignored and very hard to enforce. As a sophomore, I understand that extensive changes to this honor code won't happen overnight, but I would like to see revisions done in order to establish a better environment to learn in. The honor code is buried deep within a sea of paperwork we are forced to sign, however many of us don’t even read the honor code. The way it is presented makes it very easy to ignore and therefore becomes ineffective.
This way, the honor code is maintained and the teacher is able to address the issue of cheating. Finally, someone following the honor code should act with an ideal of integrity. If someone is whole and has firm values, they should not feel it necessary toile, cheat or steal. For example, if Ms. Hawkins leaves Paul alone in the classroom with the key to the chapter 9 test for the next day, Paul should act out of integrity and not take pictures of the key. Paul should be confident enough in his own abilities and firm enough in his ethics that he does not want to or need to cheat.
You may think that this is a problematic mindset. I would tend to agree. As the Chair of our school’s Honor Council, my job to uphold our Honor Code. That is to say, I try to make sure that students do not cheat, plagiarize, lie, steal, or create forgeries, nor tolerate peers who do. Violators of the Honor Code come to the Honor Council for investigation, judgement, and even punishment. Thankfully, I have the help
Being a high schooler at Windham High School, I can say that I am not in favor of the honor codes being established at my school. I am a very busy student-athlete that always completes work on time, does what I’m expected to, and never cheats. Why should I have to follow honor codes that would make no difference in my life. Cheating, stealing, and plagiarizing are already not acceptable, we are told by our teachers constantly, and it is stated in our syllabi.
An honor code is a set of rules that might be enforced in schools. Children sign an agreement contract that says if they break these rules they accept the punishments. I believe that honor codes should be enforced in schools when cheating or other misbehaviors get out of control. In some schools “ students convicted of lying or cheating can expect to receive punishments ranging from suspension to expulsion .” I believe at this moment hotchkiss high school just work on revising our honor system.
Honor codes have been a strong subject of dispute over the last few years. Whether to hold students accountable for their own actions, and allow them to control the cheating in a school is, in all regards, a major decision that could potentially be detrimental to a school’s society and reputation. However, the rewards for a successful honor code are exponentially higher than the cost. Schools should always have some form of honor code in place, whether it be something like a signed contract at the beginning of each semester paired with an honor court to hold violators accountable, or something as simple as a statement of trust on a worksheet.