WAS she cheating or not? WWYD?

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-05-2004
WAS she cheating or not? WWYD?
9
Mon, 02-13-2006 - 7:20pm

I don't want to come across as the (stupid) protective parent defending her child - BUT...
My 15 yo dd came home today and says she went by her pre-ap spanish teacher's class to see what she made on a test. The teacher says, another teacher saw dd cheating - from the hallway during class - so she has to retake the test. In the meantime, she will get an incomplete on this week's report card, which in turn will cause her to be ineligible to perform in a drill team competition this weekend. She is an A/B student and has never been in trouble before. I believe her when she says she wasn't cheating -- I don't have any reason not to - thus far. Why would the teacher not call her out cheating right as it was happening?? What would you do??

Katherine

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-21-2005
Mon, 02-13-2006 - 8:46pm

Katherine,
I would call the school and ask to speak to the teacher who reported that he/she say your dd cheating and ask for a conference. I believe you are right in believing your dd, but I would approach it differently with them: "I need to understand what you saw" vs "I know my dd wouldn't cheat."

If they have no proof (and my guess is they don't), they have no choice but to let her test score stand. Reinforce to your dd that you believe her, but let her know that you have to go through the proper channels in order to change anything.

This sound like a real crock. I can't imagine what they are thinking in accusing her. Good luck

jt

Avatar for momtb4
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Mon, 02-13-2006 - 11:59pm
tricky one. It's so easy to believe our own kid won't cheat. I think the part that burns me is that she's accused of cheating and will take the punishment for it (missing drill team) before she has a chance to prove her innocences. And wait, isn't it innocent unless proven guilty? I'd call a conference with the teacher, the accuser and the principal and get this straightened out pronto.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-06-2005
Tue, 02-14-2006 - 1:51am

In my family, (and how my mom raised 5), you back your kids up 100% until they give you a reason not to. Handle it , with the adult finesse the other posters mentioned, but I would very much stress , unless they had proof dd was CHEATING, she WOULD be eligible, and she WOULD be going on the drill team thing.
Here's me being petty mom: how did a teacher in the hall Know they were testing /cheating? does this teacher have nothing better to do than watch dd from hall? where was teacher for the CLASS, that it slipped by him/her? Does the school make it policy, to have teachers from other classes seek out students (from the hall ) they think , might , maybe, be cheating, from what they can see- and damage a kids reputation, standing on sports team , and punish BEFORE investagation????

(hoping to rile you up, so if dd story rings true, when your done, the school WONT make this mistake again, on a kid who has parents, who don't care to get to the bottom of it) :)
good luck! k-

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-02-2003
Tue, 02-14-2006 - 3:54am
i agree with the others - of course we believe our kids (after all, "our" angels can't be cheating lol) - but that isn't even the point. I don't really understand the whole set up here - where was your dd's teacher, who is this mysterious 'other' teacher, and what is his/her role, and why didn't they do something about this right then and there. the whole thing smells fishy to me...
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-20-2005
Tue, 02-14-2006 - 11:23am

Personally, I would sit down with both teachers and maybe a third school official (one that knows and likes DD - a guidance counselor possibly) and sort this out. I would think that some sort of compromise could be reached.

Good Luck!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 02-14-2006 - 1:23pm

What? I would absolutely request a conference with teacher, teacher who accused her and vice principal of curriculum. I would want to know how she was cheating, how could teacher in the hall see her, does the teacher who accused her have her in another class--is she absolutely certain it was actually your DD she saw? Where was her regular teacher? This is a pretty major charge. In our school, if you are caught cheating twice in one semester, you are dropped/failed out of the class.

If nothing else, by requesting the conference, you are showing your DD that you support her and believe her. If DD truly was cheating, then that will open a good discussion about how you went to bat for her and she had been lying all along. If they can't prove it, then stand by your DD.

Good luck!

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-29-2004
Tue, 02-14-2006 - 6:32pm
Delurking. I agree that you need to have a conference so you know what went on. I would strongly suggest you start with just the teacher though. Find out what he or she saw and what the other teacher said they saw. Ask yourself does that make sense? Could it happen that way? Go in with an open mind as a concerned parent, and do not be confrontational. I frankly don't see alot of incentive for an uninvolved teacher to accuse a student of cheating unless they were very sure that was the case. If your daughter was cheating, or even likely cheating, a test retake would be getting off very lightly. It is possible that the involved teachers are doing your daughter a very big favor by bending the rules a bit, and that would be all the more reason why it may not be a good idea to include others in your initial conversaton. The teachers may be willing to "not be sure" about what he/she saw, but the administration may take a more "by the book approach".
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 02-14-2006 - 7:55pm

I agree with the others that you need to get more info and look to a compromise

I am hard pressed to think what one could see that could be THAT conclusive. Eyes stray in teh normal course of sitting and thinking-she could have been checking out a cute guy for all the teacher in the hall(with what kind of angle)knows

I think retaking the test without missing the weekend activity would be fair to both sides. After all, if anything, she should do better this time around

If she does poorly-as in more poorly than a few days forgetting-chances are she was cheating

If she does well-well, let them eat their words!

If I saw something from the hall, I think I would tell the teacher so she could keep a closer eye on the student next time they tested. I would simply not expect my word to be taken without any other input

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-06-2005
Thu, 02-16-2006 - 10:59pm
{bump} well, what happened? k-