The Pros And Cons Of The Honor System

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

First of all, a cheater does not change his ways, because if they want to cheat they will find a way and do it even if they signed a honor code. As source D debated that “even here [University of Virginia], where honor is so well defined and policed by an elite student committee, plagiarism has become a problem.” Even in an university with an elevated system of honor code, the students still cheated because they choose to, completely ignoring the honor code. Also, the source C indicated “if a student enters a college with mostly “cheater” types [will encourage] even “honest” types to cheat.” This is a clear example of the decision took by any type of student to cheat, regardless of a honor code.

Periodically it is more suitable to have a set of rules in classrooms then to not have any at all. As the time flutters by, more plentiful crimes have been devoted despite the fact not many are in the great state of Idaho. Teenagers are more likely to commit more crimes then adults. Plagiarizing is the number one crime perpetrate by teenagers when they are in school writing an essay. Students like to plagiarize because they are timid of failing or they simply aren’t sympathetic in that subject. Schools need to have honor codes because it can atrocity the crime rate tremendously. Some schools in the state of Idaho have honor codes like Nampa Senior High School and Columbia High School. Although the students do not follow either honor codes at the high schools.

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 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

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.

“Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.” C.S. Lewis. The notion of honesty and integrity is also depicted in the debate of the honor code in schools all around the country. In the article the author illustrates the pros and cons of the honor code and the importance of it. The ability to be content while taking a test, us having all knowledge in our pockets and students violating honor code and not getting caught are reasons why we should maintain our honor code. Therefore, the honor code should be maintained because there are many students violating the honor code and getting away with it and this is detrimental to society because students are cheating their way through elementary, middle, high school and maybe even college and not really learning anything that’ll actually take them to the next level.

According to Sledge, a student researcher, Honor codes are no different. With 88 out of 275 responses feel that failure in an assignment was a responsible sanction for violation of the honor code, yet I believe that if honor codes were changed so collaboration on tests and assignments was allowed students would get better grades in school.

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.

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.

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

In numerous colleges, students have minimal awareness about their honor codes and the punishments that correlate with violating that academic agreement. Susan Greenburg, author of “Why Colleges Should Ditch Honor Codes”, discusses the issues behind having an honor code and why colleges should no longer have this practice. She addresses the conflict in Stanford University, where students in a computer science class spring up attention on whether the code is still an appropriate use today. These students enrolled in the course were under questioning about their academic dishonesty and received harsh discipline in a class and future occupational field that involves collaboration with others daily. For some, the honor code is unfair considering

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

     Throughout my years at Xavier and beyond I intend to follow the Xavier Honor Code so I can become a cooperative and responsible person. By being a student at Xavier I notice I will have to take responsibility of my actions and faults. In order for Xavier to trust me and to allow me to continue attending their school, I will have to follow their rules and be respectful. Not only should I do these things, but also I have to respect myself in order to respect others. In following the Honor Code at Xavier I will learn more about others, the school, and myself. The Honor Code will impact my academic and campus life because it will lead my way to the