Cheating, also known according to the film as faking the grade, is certainly unfair to honest students. The unfairness comes in some cases where the cheater outperforms the honest student. Faking the Grade is a film that portrays cheating as something immoral and that it puts the honest people at a disadvantage whether it is during school/university or throughout their lives. Children nowadays are depending on the many forms of cheating to be successful. According to Schmuley Boteach, however, cheating is something to blame on the parents and not the children because that is where it starts (Faking the Grade, web). In this paper I analyze arguments made in the film by specifically focusing on the generalizations made and connecting them to the different fallacies and principles of argumentation that relate to hasty generalizations. First, I discuss a hasty generalization that was introduced in the film at the beginning which led for the remaining arguments of the film to be weaker and narrowed down. Then, I discuss Boteach’s argument which concludes that parents are the main fault for kids cheating and I mention the variety of different fallacies committed in that argument.
The generalizations made in this film are very clear. The narrator starts off the film by bringing up a study made in Canada where half of the undergraduates admitted to cheating in university and over three quarters admitted they cheated in high school (Faking the Grade, web). We can tell from the
Cheating has always been an issue among students. Almost everyone cheats in some fashion in classes. Whether it’s by blatantly copying another student’s answers, or working together on an assignment meant to be done on your own, cheating will remain a staple occurrence in academic life. In Rebekah Nathan’s article, “The Art of College Management: Cheating,” Nathan (2005) delves into students’ various reasons for cheating and even includes cheating as an “aspect[] of student culture,” (p. 27) from the point of view of a student. Nathan defends cheating as a whole by including it as an inevitable part of student culture. Additionally, she claims that everyone cheats, further diving into the idea that cheating is not inherently wrong. As a result of consistently defending cheating, Nathan neglects to provide worthy solutions to the issue as well as ignoring the consequences of cheating.
Many students in today’s world are becoming lazy. As time is there, students find ways to cheat, and lessen their work load through unethical approaches. There are multiple stories from teachers that can just go on about the students that try to cheat the system. The ways of these students could be that they can’t read and are trying to cheat their way through the educational system.
Cheating used to be considered an unmentionable sin. However, in this day and age, it has become more common and somewhat of a daily occurrence. Cheating is more widespread today than in the past. According to the article titled Education: The New Morality, cheating has not been an issue of values, but simply one of practicality. This shows that many view cheating as a mere occurrence and something that can often be skipped over. The reason cheating has become such a pervasive movement is because many students tend to rationalize their cheating behavior. A common rationalization that many students use is, " That 's the only way I 'll get anywhere in life." Many students also tend to incorporate reasons, such as parental pressures,
Multiple studies have found that students are spending less time on their academic studies leading to a decrease in education and an increase in temptation of academic dishonesty. Cheating has been prevalent since mankind existed, but writer William Chace gives his outlook on the issue in his article, “A Question of Honor”. Chace is able to use adequate reasoning to engage the reader in an article that depicts perspectives from every angle. Included within the article are a sense of sympathy, through explanations and even a proposed solution of how to end academic dishonesty.
into college. “Many educators say the culture of cheating takes root in high school, where the
The student becomes a sort of “accessory,” or “accomplice of crime”. That notion is not a solution to solving the problem of cheating, instead, it instills guilt, and consequently stress, into students who could have seen something they may not have wanted to see. Students should not be the police; it is not their responsibility. Although, it is there responsibility to discourage cheating. If a student wants to inform a superior about cheating, that should be the student’s choice, and should be based the student’s own conviction, not because they do not want to be
If the adults don’t set an example for the students, then the students will continue to disregard moral standard and believe that cheating is acceptable. They need to show that it's an unjust crime because the students who cheated are receiving the same grade as those who were honest and hardworking. Cheating is not only fair, but will also grow into a habit that will greatly impede their future. In the end, the students will not be able to function in society if they are incapable of learning. The high grades they obtained from cheating will fulfill their parent’s expectations and gain an acceptance into college, but it will restrain them from progressing in the real world. If the parents truly wanted what’s best for them, then they must guide their children onto the right path by preventing the growth of
A poll conducted by a website, CollegeHumor, revealed that 60 percent of college students had admitted to cheating on tests and assignments. Due to its popularity, society has began to accept cheating as an average tool used by students to succeed. Accepting the issue of cheating has not only decreased society’s standards, but also has led them to become less ethical. Thus, as a result of the decrease in standards, academic cheating has become a reaccuring problem that is now being accepted by society.
Journalist and math teacher Victor Dorff’s article “Educations Cheating Epidemic” deals with his concerns about the cultural and educational problem with cheating. Dorff claims that cheating is a cultural problem and that society’s acceptances of cheating only perpetuates the malicious cycle. Dorff uses Classical Oration and uses his personal teaching experience, the general student perspective, and societies frequent cheating activities to support his argument.
Mari Pearlman in the article “cheating In School Reflects Basic Confusion In Society”, (August 27, 1999), asserts that ways society portrays cheating as adults reflects and also comes back to cheating in the classroom as a child. She asserts this claim to the fact that old habits as children will affect adult life in the future. Cheating has been a problem in society for decades and has progressed into becoming a life habit. Based on parenting going through the “beating system” children watching their parents cheat for example on taxes or lying to their bosses have an impact on the child and creates a life habit of deception.
ABC NEWS, the author of A Cheating Crisis In America's Schools, states "technology is giving students even more ways to cheat nowadays" Technology, is very useful to learn, but students are using it to find better ways to cheat (ABC NEWS). I believe cheating is practice in all school levels. Therefore , when student go to college, they think it would be easier to cheat instead of studying.
Lahey argues that “the product of our testing-oriented and performance-obsessed culture” is to blame for the majority of cheating in school systems. This is a valid statement due to several varying factors in that occur in people’s everyday lives. For instance, in some cases, teachers drape a nonessential amount of stress over the students. This occurs when dealing with assignments, tests, and even their futures, over emphasizing the need to succeed. While it is important to call attention to and install a want to be prosperous, being overly dramatic does more harm than good. Lahey
Cheating has been an ongoing procedure that has been occurring since before I was born. This has been a problem for years and continues being so as cheating is becoming more and more common. In the article by LA Times, ¨Cheating in School Reflects Basic Confusion in Society¨ (August 22, 1999) written by Mari Pearlman, she explains how adults want teachers to punish students for cheating although they are doing the same thing, only in different ways. I agree with Mari Pearlman´s analysis on what she has to say about cheating because still to this day, it is all true.
When asking a student do they think cheating is bad most will say yes and will even admit to cheating.Cheating doesn’t affect many students on a regular day basis until they have been caught red-handed.When it comes to cheating blame automatically goes to the student but what about the adult as well.Some teachers have admitted to seeing student cheat but haven't said anything because it was on homework.Some teachers have even gone to the depth of helping a student cheat on a test.There was a survey that was taken through all of the high schools asking students if they had ever cheated on a test, the results were that there were 64 percent who cheated,58 who plagiarised, and above all 95 percent of them admitted to cheating of some sort.(Academic Integrity Under Statistics paragraph 3 )Students cheat to make it through a semester and to make their parents proud.Students cheat simply because of lack of knowledge, pressure from the adult looking for them to do their best, and last lack of time.
Many students today feel the pressure of needing to succeed in the classroom. Because of this, many have forced themselves to cheat. This affects students towards the lower end of grades, and at the highest levels. This is especially prominent in upper classmen. In the article,”Moving From Cheating to Academic Honesty”, The author Eugene Bratek, finds examples, and solutions to academic dishonesty.