Over the weekend CBS ran a story about a self described "academic prostitute" who for $40/hour writes college admission essays for high school students and term papers for college seniors. And it seems to be a growing cottage industry.
The reporter, Byron Pitts, asks, "who's to blame? Can you spell Enron and Major League Baseball?" The reporter also complains the "message is becoming increasingly clear: Don't just win, win at any cost". Its easy to blame Enron, after all didn't Ken Lay get someone to do up the books for him so he could get the 'financial' grade he wanted?
Unfortunately in the case of these 'student cheating services' the reporter found that many of the student's parents are putting up the money. Maybe parents would rethink their actions if they thought they were actually encouraging their child to be the next Ken Lay.
Student papers are obviously cheap but the cost, in terms of integrity might be impossible to measure.
I read an article about this is TIME (I think) a few months back from a woman who did this and made big money. She was trying to become a full-time writer, I think, and was doing this for bread-and-butter. But she felt really yucky about it after a while. It was a fascinating confession. She'd sit there and write papers in the kids rooms while they played video games or smoked weed or whatever. It most often was the parents paying for her services. So they were paying for an expensive education and then for "homework outsourcing" on top of that. Amazing.
Posted by: Joanna | 01 June 2005 at 02:28 PM
In a SOMEWHAT related example...I have nieces and nephews in high school. They talk about how their friends' parents lie for them. One specific example is with driving. Today in Kansas a teenager must spend a certain number of hours driving with an adult in order to get a license. Parents will sign the form without their kids having driven the required amount of hours. They will also find creative ways to obtain a Farm Permit so their kids can drive for a few years before they get a real license.
The driving rules/laws are not the issue for me. For me, it's this: kids are more likely to follow the behavior of their parents than to follow their orders such as "always tell the truth; don't lie."
Posted by: Kara | 02 June 2005 at 09:46 AM
I think this fade is growing into a trend. The Internet is full of sites that allow people to 'purchase' papers. As a recent grad, I've even had professor's who said that they monitor most of the major sites that sell these papers and they would flunk you if you use their service.
It is the role of everyone involved to combat this problem. We need the teachers to monitor the papers and writing styles of students. We need parents who won't support such actions. And we need students to learn about ethics instead of cheating, from each other.
Posted by: Robert E. | 21 June 2005 at 02:35 PM