Honor Code Essay

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.

Honor codes and codes of conduct have existed for about as long as systems of institutionalized education have, as they exist for the betterment of the students. Honor codes often consist of a set of enumerated standards that the aforementioned institution holds its students to. Without them, students’ cheating would go unregulated, which would overall just harm themselves, since it would be detrimental to their learning experience. The use of outside advantage to garner better grades would make it harder for the students to gain the help that they need, as well as allowing students to proceed without actually

The conflict of whether or not honor codes should be established has been brought up again due to an increase in cheating and collaborating on tests and school work. Recently, a surplus of students have been caught cheating in unexpected places, like Harvard and the University of Virginia. Those colleges are considering using honor codes to counteract the surge of cheating that has arisen. Although there is currently a cheating problem that needs to be dealt with, incorporating honor codes into high schools and colleges is not the most effective way to solve the cheating problem, and will not solve the cheating problem indefinitely. It is very difficult to change a person’s personality and their morals, no matter what paper they sign, but there are ways to make people’s convictions stronger. One of which is student interaction. Like many people, students have a “follow the herd” nature and want to fit in with the crowd. If many students discourage cheating, the “crowd” may choose to not cheat in fear of being shunned. Student interaction is much more effective than honor codes, and is a much less drastic change.

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

“At the University of Virginia, there’s a saying that students soon commit to memory: ‘On my honor as a student, I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment/exam.’ Students write this on every test in every class during their college career, pledging as their predecessors have since 1842 never to lie, cheat or steal.” (Source D) By making students write this statement, it creates a false sense of trust that can be abused. They are more likely to cheat because they think that no one will notice just because they wrote a saying on a paper. By putting the honor code in students faces, it creates a fake trust that can be easily

Rules governing academic integrity among students and schools is a practice deeply entrenched in the American education system and that of those around the world. Likely beginning at the University of Virginia in the United States during 1842 as a way to discourage cheating, dishonesty, and plagiarism, it soon spread throughout the nation. Today, the overwhelming majority of schools in the US, from elementary to collegiate, have their own form of a honor code. Among these schools is Port Charlotte High School, PCHS abbreviated, whose own code of conduct is based heavily on students being educated about the effects that their cheating will have on their academic future and punishing those who are discovered to have cheated in any form. So far, these particular academic regulations have proven successful and because of this, the charge put forward by the school should continue to be maintained. Revising the Code of Conduct into a peer-enforced system creates is statistically inefficient, hostilities between students, and eliminating the honor code would easily produce a school where cheating reigns free.

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.

Honor codes, or sets of regulations "intended to cultivate integrity" have been brought to recent debate. Several educational establishments are initiating a culture of honor codes within their schools. My own school, Sheyenne High School, has such honor codes requiring that students have the responsibility to be honest in their schoolwork. However, disunity over these codes have brought to question whether the codes are honorable or improbable. While at first glance, honor codes appear responsible and promising the unfound skepticism of students brings to light the confusion and doubt of their ability to rewrite student life. Honor codes have been implemented in my school over the past several years, but these codes must be revised to ensure

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

The School of Business Honor System and Positive Code of Conduct: The School of Business Assembly has adopted an Honor System proposed by its students and faculty to promote academic integrity and has enacted the following code:  “We, the faculty,

One of the expectations for students is to do their work individually and with complete honesty. At Robert Vela High School, honor code system is established to help the students achieve those expectations. If they do not, there are underlying consequences that would teach them a lesson. The honor code established at Robert Vela High School (RVHS) should be maintained for it includes rules concerning the academic misconduct of the students, however, students tend to not take them seriously because they are not enforced efficiently. Without implementing the system effectively, students’ integrity will be at stake, teachers will lose their authority, grade point average and rankings will be at risk, and students will not be prepared for college.

At East Granby High School, there are no honor codes or a system that would cultivate integrity and prevent cheating and plagiarizing. This is troubling because cheating and plagiarizing play a large role in the school’s community. For example, some teachers have had to make different versions of tests to prevent cheating in the classroom. By establishing a system in which students would have to sign a statement ensuring that they would not cheat, steal, or plagiarize on any of their assignments at the beginning of each quarter, the community as a whole would benefit through the maintaining of the honesty of more of the student body. Even though honor codes would not eliminate dishonorable behavior entirely, the act of signing a statement would make those who cheat or plagiarize understand the reality of their actions. Furthermore, the principles within the system could explain the punishments that would be administered for the violating of the established code. The student body at East Granby High School would benefit from the formation of an honor system that would provide rules that made it clear that cheating, stealing, and

“Honor Codes Work Where Honesty Has Already Taken Root.” Chronicle of Higher Education. Chronicle of Higher Education, 24 Sept. 2012. Web. 20 March 2013.

Honor Code Honor is a privilege that is earned by one’s actions thus granting the individual with an abundant amount of respect. When the title of honor is bestowed upon someone, the qualities of this person can be described as trustworthy and respected in the eyes of others. Why would an academic institution force this quality among the students attending high school or other academic institutions? An academic honor code should be present, valued, and made aware of to the students who are obtaining an education, but not enforced imperatively. Although it should not be enforced the value of honor code is vital to the academic development of students.

The most crucial part of establishing an effective honor code is to acknowledge that the students are the ones who determine the level of its efficiency. Within the school system, there are always rules that must be followed; however, a portion of the student population will not obey them. The honor code needs to be separated from the rules in order to establish a set of standards that are a necessity to build the “...type of environment [we] want to live in”(Source B). The culture of the students is the enabler for the success of the honor code. Fundamentally, the honor code should be the expectations that establish the setting of the school. Within schools today, there are many situations in which a student is required to do an assignment in order to receive a passing grade. To many this would urge them to complete the task, but to others