Their Cheatin' Hearts

I am not easily horrified. I am not cynical but I am skeptical. I have just finished reading an incredible article in the February 9th edition of Maclean's. It purports to prove that 53% of university students cheat to obtain their degrees.

So far, it has not hit the newspaper headlines or the television media.Why is that, I wonder?

My mind goes back to that day in Kingston, when Jeffrey Simpson told thousands of graduating students that it's alright to be skeptical but not cynical.

There they all were, in their robes and mortars, filing in with their professors, all of them in their coloured silks. Students kneeling before the Rector on his throne receiving their diplomas and silks as a symbol of their higher learning achievement. Parents in tears of pride bursting into cheers as the name of an offspring is called.

Was everyone there aware that more than half of the graduates had cheated their way to that day? My goodness that's a hard one to accept.

What an irony. The subject of Jeffery Simpson's speech was the ethics of politicians and public servants. He was urging the students not to judge too harshly. What were they thinking as they listened?

What did they see on the faculty side of things that might have encouraged them to think cheating was acceptable

Apparently the statistics are even worse in the U.S.

I remember thinking when the current American President's academic credentials were the subject of public discussion. It was pointed out he had attended his father's Alma Mater. Reference was made to annual generous donations to the university from the President's father.

I wondered at the time - what are the chances of the son of a generous benefactor to a university coming out of that university without a degree?If a person has enough money to buy a place in a university and subsquently a degree , why would that circumstance be more acceptable to society than cheating?

Another thought occurs- how much does the $30.thousand plus debt a student faces at the end of his studies influence what he is prepared to do to get that degree .

Apart from the inevitable harm to the community of having people who are not what they profess to be - what does it do to the individual's self-image to know he is a fraud? How corrosive is that? Or does that just prove to them how clever they are?

What about all the people who come from other countries, who cannot work in their professions here because their credentials might not meet our “standards”?

And what about all the people who don't cheat? The ones who earned their degrees with hard work and ability.... How should we know how to tell the difference ?

Mind you, over the years, I have encountered individuals who made me wonder, just how hard can it be to collect this degree or that?Of course, they may have been the cheaters and it wasn't that hard to tell.

I guess I just didn't know what I was seeing.