A Sad Commentary by Konstantin Ravvin

Take a look at the following video of a recent cheating scandal at the University of Central Florida, and be prepared to be sickened.

The above quote by Konstantin Ravvin, University of Central Florida senior, makes me sick to my stomach:

"This is college. Everyone cheats. Everyone cheats in life, in general...they're making a witch hunt out of absolutely nothing as if it were to teach us some kind of moral lesson."

Got a message for you, Konstantin. I have never cheated in life, lied to advance myself or hurt someone to advance myself, so with my personal experience, I strongly disagree with your contention. All with whom I interact have followed a similar path to mine. I find it very sad that this young man's teachers and parents were not a bigger influence on him and would find it an even bigger disgrace if he gets a job fresh out of college before someone else who played by the rules and didn't "cheat in life."

Let's look at this scandal at UCF in a larger context. While I am happy this professor is making all his students re-take the midterm, I disagree with his actions in regard to the cheating students. Every student who participated, confession or no confession, should face larger consequences by the UCF Administration and should not get off easy with an ethics seminar (as those who confess will). These students willingly committed an act of academic dishonesty and knew the consequences before going in, therefore, they should face the consequences. This is a slap in the face to those who don't "cheat in life" and have listened to and accepted the values lesson imparted on to them by their parents and teachers.

As a high school educator, I have always taken a hard line against cheating and/or academic dishonesty. On day one, I teach them about the definitions of the various forms of academic dishonesty, show them how I discover academic dishonesty, I discuss with them the real world consequences of academic dishonesty, and then I explain to them my policy. If I catch them participating in or acting as an accomplice in any form of academic dishonesty, not only do I enforce the school's policy, but they receive a failing grade on the particular assignment and they can never use me as a reference or recommender for participation in any honor society, admission to an institution of higher education or application for a job.

Some administrators or supervisors I have worked under or interviewed with have questioned, challenged or criticized my perspective, stating that I take a hard line. In response I tell them two things:

1) After six years, my policy must be effective because I HAVE NEVER CAUGHT A STUDENT IN MY CLASS ATTEMPTING TO COMMIT ACADEMIC DISHONESTY. This is because I hold them to a standard, tell them why I take this stand, teach them real-world consequences and teach them the proper forms of academic honesty. They know the rules, their parents know the rules, and both know that I have many higher education connections, so they do not attempt to test me.

2) Educators, whether classroom teachers or administrators, must remember they have a cooperative role in teaching tomorrow's leaders who may one day hold positions of influence. To take on this responsibility, they must be properly prepared with not only a strong values system that will facilitate success in life, but we also must realize it is our responsibility to pass these values down to the next generation so they may have the knowledge to do the same. If we, as educators, compromise our values by looking the other way when enforcing academic dishonesty, we are teaching our students that cheating is acceptable in society and thus begins a dangerous cycle detrimental to American society.

Whether educator, parent, or citizen who may interact with young people, I hope you are sickened by the UCF Cheating Scandal, as well as Konstantin Ravvin's comments, and this impacts you in some fashion to take a forceful role in positively preparing these young people to become tomorrow's leaders.