Scouting, Volume 50, Number 2, February 1962 Page: 25
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RESPONDED TO
U&CIAMD
A 14-year-old ninth-grade girl from Scottsboro, Ala-
bama, agreed: "I couldn't agree more! I saw the title
on the cover of Scouting magazine while baby-sitting.
It caught my eye because that very day I had taken three
tests—and cheated in all three of them.
"I had received a copy of the test and answers in
science and I gave it to six others in my class. 1 made
84. In Alabama history, my cousin who sits near me
helped me and I made 100. In Latin vocabulary test, I
simply left my book open. I missed one so it wouldn't
be conspicuous.
"My class isn't dumb—no one in my homeroom makes
less than C's and only a few of them are made. My I.Q.
is 128. My reading level is excellent. I made four A's
and two B"s on my last report card—by cheating more
I could have made all A's but I'm afraid I might feel
guilty and I can't remember when I've felt that. Only
when I've been caught, and that's not often. I could
study, but that takes so much time!"
Bobby Ginn, New York City, assured us he was one
of those who doesn't cheat, and declared, '"I pity those
who cheat because if they do not learn their subjects
at the present time, they will never have another op-
portunity."
Lawrence Potanka is a 13-year-old New York City
Scout who doesn't cheat. "These cheaters are the losers.
When they take a job and don't know enough about it,
they will be dismissed.'
Lawrence's teacher read the article to his class. The
class believed that students cheat for fear their parents
will scold them for not getting good marks, and they
want to get as good marks as other children.
From Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Eileen Emerick of the
editorial staff of the North Star, North Allegheny High
School's newspaper, told us they had noticed the large
number of cheaters in their classes and ran two excel-
lent editorials about the menace.
The first one took the students to task. It said: "Secret
pipelines (for getting information) and some not so
secret run through our school and work just as the
underground does. I am referring to the system the
majority of the students in our school use for getting
answers on tests. ... It is about time that someone dug
up these pipelines and destroyed them.
"Why do students feel the need to cheat? Do they
think they are not smart enough to pass a test honestly?
Well, why don't they try? Cheating is one of the lowest
things you can do, and it will not get you anywhere.
"We are not the only school where this is going on
and we are probably not the worst, but, nevertheless,
it is a disgrace to our school.
"Have you people who cheat ever had the satisfac-
tion of going to take a test knowing that you know the
material, not because someone gave it to you, but be-
cause you really studied? Have you ever gotten back
a test with an honest A on it and felt the thrill it gives
you?
"Do just this, just once: Next time you have a big
test, study for it. Don't just study, but study hard, harder
than you ever have before. Then when you take the test,
don't give in to temptation, just take it. If you don't
see and feel the results, go back to cheating."
Teachers share blame
The second editorial pulled no punches as it laid part
of the blame on the teacher's desk.
"There are teachers in our school who are either
completely blind or who sanction cheating. There are
students who will sit with their books wide open, others
will have their crib sheets beside them, and still others
will hook class the day of a test so they can find out
what is on it before they take it. It seems strange that
some teachers don't recognize these signs of cheating.
If teachers want to know the different forms of cheating,
there are many students qualified to fill them in.
"There are teachers who won't tolerate cheating. One
of our teachers recently informed his pupils that 'dis-
honesty in the classroom, in any of its forms, will result
in a failing grade and removal from the course until a
parent-teacher conference can be arranged to discuss
the situation.'
"This is the type of positive action students of North
Allegheny should demand. Most of us are disgusted with
students that get away with cheating but we're also sick
of the people who allow it."
The reaction? Eileen reports, "Teachers and students
alike praised the action and, since then, cheating has
'gone out like a light.' A new, more enjoyable serious-
minded attitude has taken over."
The article triggered intriguing and thought-provok-
25
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 50, Number 2, February 1962, periodical, February 1962; New Brunswick, New Jersey. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth331729/m1/27/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.