Cheating for a school place

This issue has reared its head in the press again this week and has sparked much conversation and debate. The argument put forward this week is that more should be done to deter parents from lying to get their child in to the school of their choice and there should be a bigger crackdown on those parents that have done this.

Now if you ask many parents they will say that they want thee best for their children and I think you have to commend parents that put their children first and do anything they can to give their children the best upbringing possible but the question is where do you draw the line?

If you as a parent are willing to cheat and lie to get your child in to the school of your choosing what message does that send to your children. As parents we have to be examples to our children. There are other problems associated with cheating to get in to schools like if other children find out that you cheated to get your child in they may pick on your child or you yourself may have problems with other parents at the school.

Schools can be a bit of a postcode lottery at times which I don’t think is fair but cheating is not the answer. If you happen to have a house in the radius of a good school your lucky but then what can happen is that wealthier families can afford to buy and move in to houses near these schools to get their children in which isn’t cheating but unfair on low income families who can’t do that.

I think more needs to be done to improve failing or underperforming schools as this is the only way we will avoid this situation. At the moment it seems more is being done on the prevention side but not the cure. It is only when we work on the cure that we will improve education for young people which is the real issue here.

What are your thoughts on cheating to get a school place? We would love to know and you can share your thoughts by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=789

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Cheating

Right about now up and down the country many school college and university students will be either sweating to get their essays and dissertations in by deadline or they will be sweating on the results of work they have already handed in which could have an impact on their future. The question many people have asked over the years is how many students have actually sweated and worked hard and how many have used unethical means, plagiarism or have brought essays from the Internet.

The Internet has been a great tool for education and the advancement of information. The Internet has impacted the way we learn on all levels from how information is presented and how it can be accessed. Gone are the days when if you were ill you had to have work sent home now you can go online and do your homework and coursework online with the aid of audio, videos and online tests.

On the contrasting side the internet making information more easily available has meant that young people up and down the country with little or no effort have been able to stumble across essays and extracts and have given in to the temptation of copying the information and passing it off as their own so they can go out with their mates or watch TV. With the level of cheating going on the teachers haven’t been able to cope and many students have been getting marks for work which was not theirs.

This week search engine Google have made a stance against this by banning adverts for essay writing services on their search engine which is a huge step in the battle to combat plagiarism and the using of other peoples work on the internet.

Young people may think that if they get away with it then it doesn’t cause a problem but the far reaching and long term effects is where the real danger lies. Unfortunately in life there are no short cuts and when you leave school when times get hard you have to be ready to graft to keep a roof over your head, to pay the bills and in time support a family. By letting young people get away with cheating we are not giving them the right building blocks that they need for their development.

The big problem with cheating is that if you cheat say on your University Dissertation and you then decide to get a job in the field of your study they will expect you to have the knowledge and the skills equivalent to your grade. With graduate jobs companies expect you to have that high level of knowledge and expertise as the job demands it and you will soon be found out if you don’t possess these. A good University grade may help you get a job but if you haven’t done all the work you needed to do to earn that grade you are not going to keep that job for long and a CV which has you moving jobs every month or so does not look good to future employers.

I understand that there is a lot of pressure put on young people today to succeed with this pressure only getting more intense but if you can show the strength to deal with this and not be swayed in to cheating it will set you up for life. If you are struggling ask for help it takes a great inner strength to admit your own failings and you will only feel stronger because of the experience. Just remember that nothing is impossible or to hard to overcome you just have to put yur mind to it and have the dedication to see it through.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/