Who's really cheating whom?
Michael Bertacchi
Issue date: 5/4/07 Section: Opinion
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The rampancy of cheating and the numerous ways it can be accomplished via electronic devices says a lot about the state of our education system. When did we decide to stop teaching subjects like math and replace them with courses teaching kids how to do math on a calculator that can graph their equations, play vintage Atari games like Pong and save them the hassle of actually using their own minds for a change? Whatever happened to reinforcing real, tangible skills like being able to do complex division?
I'll tell you what happened: The American school system opted to cut some corners. Ironically, in doing so it has cheated America's students out of a solid, cognitive-based education. Funny how things like that work out.
Ultimately, something should be said about integrity. It is the single most important thing our current school system neglects. Rather than building future generations around a solid core of fundamental skills, we're propping them up on one crutch after another. If it isn't tangible pieces of equipment like over-priced calculators, it's the way in which students are passed through the system like herds of cattle. Nobody cares whether they're struggling or lacking the required skill sets, just as long as they have a product to sell come harvest.
And until the system stops cheating the students, what incentive do the students have not to cheat the system? It almost seems unfair to expect to measure up to someone's standards when those very same people are neglecting the very integrity they expect their students to showcase.
Do me a favor. Grab a pen or pencil and in the space between my giant head and nameplate, try to solve this problem without referring to a math book, calculator or a friend: In right triangle ABC, hypotenuse AB=15 and angle A=35ยบ. Find leg BC to the nearest tenth.
And we wonder why kids are cheating these days.
I'll tell you what happened: The American school system opted to cut some corners. Ironically, in doing so it has cheated America's students out of a solid, cognitive-based education. Funny how things like that work out.
Ultimately, something should be said about integrity. It is the single most important thing our current school system neglects. Rather than building future generations around a solid core of fundamental skills, we're propping them up on one crutch after another. If it isn't tangible pieces of equipment like over-priced calculators, it's the way in which students are passed through the system like herds of cattle. Nobody cares whether they're struggling or lacking the required skill sets, just as long as they have a product to sell come harvest.
And until the system stops cheating the students, what incentive do the students have not to cheat the system? It almost seems unfair to expect to measure up to someone's standards when those very same people are neglecting the very integrity they expect their students to showcase.
Do me a favor. Grab a pen or pencil and in the space between my giant head and nameplate, try to solve this problem without referring to a math book, calculator or a friend: In right triangle ABC, hypotenuse AB=15 and angle A=35ยบ. Find leg BC to the nearest tenth.
And we wonder why kids are cheating these days.
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