Franklin Schargel’s Blog

A new booklet has been released  by the Federal Trade Commission and other government agencies helps parents and teachers steer kids safely through the online and mobile phone worlds.

Net Cetera: Chatting with Kids About Being Online was unveiled by the Federadl Trade Commission.

Net Cetera tells parents and teachers what they need to know to talk to kids about issues like cyberbullying, sexting, mobile phone safety, and protecting the family computer. Talking to kids about these topics can help them avoid behaving rudely online; steer clear of inappropriate content like pornography, violence, or hate speech; and protect themselves from contact with bullies, predators, hackers, and scammers.

The booklet is available at OnGuardOnline.gov, the federal government’s online safety Web site. OnGuardOnline.gov is a partnership of more than a dozen federal agencies and the technology industry. Like all the consumer education resources at the site, Net Cetera is free and available for public use. At OnGuardOnline, parents can download sections of the booklet, link to it, or post it on their own site. At bulkorder.ftc.gov parents can order the printed version of the booklet in bulk.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,700 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s Web site provides free information on a variety of consumer topics.

The following comes from “What We Know and What We Can Do” by Patrick F. Drinin and Tricia Bertran, published by Wiley-Blackwell (2009).  I am grateful that I have been given permission to make it available to the readers of this website.

#1- Infuse academic integrity into the fabric of the school, college or university.
Finally, educators must make academic integrity “stick.” Rather than cheating, academic integrity must be the norm on campus. Educators must strategically and intentionally work to institutionalize academic integrity and weave it into the heart of the structures, cultures, and processes of the organization. We can do this by recognizing the problem and committing to addressing it; by generating a response from studying the problem in depth; by discussing the problem in structured conversations and implementing the proposed solutions; and finally, by attending constantly and consistently to the enactment of integrity as a core institutional value. Obviously, this must be a school-wide commitment–no one educator can do it alone. However, one educator can stimulate the conversations and start the action on campus, in order to gather together a favorable coalition for future work.

#2- Develop student character and integrity.
Creating a teachable moment from a cheating situation is just one way to attend to the development of student character and integrity. Another way is to leverage the entire educational experience as an opportunity for such development. Character or values education has fallen from favor in recent years because of debates over “whose values” should be taught. However, in our book we mention that the Center for Academic Integrity (www.academicintegrity.org) offers a moral vocabulary that is universal and transcendent–responsibility, respect, fairness, trustworthiness, and honesty. These are the five fundamental values of academic integrity. Each school should incorporate the teaching of these five values into their curriculum and their school operations and daily practices should reflect them.

#3- Respond to cheating when it does occur.
Because cheating is endemic to the educational institution, it will occur no matter what preventative and educational measures we implement. Although we cannot control student behavior, we can control our responses to it. If the goal is to prevent and reduce cheating in school, we must respond to it when we see it. We hear far too many stories of teachers ignoring cheating when it happens by “looking the other way” or of others blaming the teachers for the student cheating that occurs. This can, however, not only implicitly encourage cheating to continue and become normative but also create a lost opportunity for learning. Responding to cheating regularly and consistently signifies to students that such dishonest behavior will not be tolerated, no matter the circumstances. And this, of course, can prevent future cheating because students will recognize that the costs outweigh the benefits.

#4- Reduce temptations and opportunities for cheating.
In our book, Cheating in School, we discuss that cheating is endemic to the educational institution, but that we can prevent some cheating by reducing temptations and opportunities for it to occur. For example, can students be spaced out in large class exams so they are not tempted to look on another’s paper? Can alternate versions of the exam be used? Are examinations thoroughly monitored and papers closely read to signal to students that cheating is risky? Although we caution schools not to implement draconian measures that can create classrooms that better resemble the prison than the educational system, implementing reasonable precautions against student cheating can create a powerful symbol that the school does care about protecting academic integrity.

#5- Acknowledge that cheating is going to occur and is problematic.
Cheating is the “dark, deep secret” of education. As educators, we all know that it goes on but yet, for the most part, we do not like to publicly acknowledge that it does, let alone acknowledge that it is a problem that must be addressed. But there is much to be gained from such public acknowledgement: a united school that is empowered to move strategically and intentionally toward a solution; a modeling of the integrity that is expected of students; and a lifting of the veil that obscures a teacher’s own power in preventing and confronting student cheating. If a school acknowledges that cheating is occurring and is problematic, then we can begin to think about preventing cheating in school.

The following comes from “What We Know and What We Can Do” by Patrick F. Drinin and Tricia Bertran, published by Wiley-Blackwell (2009).  I am grateful that I have been given permission to make it available to the readers of this website.

#1- Acknowledge that your child is capable of cheating.
In a class study in the early twentieth century, researchers found that most cheating done by youth is situational. This means that cheating can sometimes be more contingent on the opportunities for and benefits of cheating than on an individual’s character. In other words, every child is capable of being drawn into cheating in school–good people make bad decisions all of the time. Your child will face multiple opportunities and temptations for cheating. Perhaps she has a teacher who doesn’t closely monitor student behavior during tests. Or, perhaps he feels a lot of pressure to do as well in school as his older brother. And then there is the internet–such a handy resource for copying and pasting rather than wasting time thinking! If you can acknowledge that your child is capable of academic cheating, then you can take steps to mitigate those opportunities, temptations, and benefits.

#2- Reduce temptations and pressures at home that may unintentionally invite cheating.
As a parent, you are the teacher outside of the classroom. For the most part, you are the person monitoring the student’s homework and assignment completion and so there is much you can do to mitigate opportunities, temptations, and benefits of cheating. You could, for example, emphasize for your child that learning and effort are far more important than grades. Students who are pressured to receive certain grades are much more likely to resort to cheating than students who are encouraged to learn and grow from their experiences. You could establish the baseline for homework and assignments–that they are to be done individually with some tutoring assistance. Many parents may find themselves crossing the line between being their child’s tutor and doing their child’s homework for them. Finally, restrict your child’s access to the internet so that she does not develop an unhealthy dependence on the tool as the source for all the answers. Many of the college students we see who are reported for cheating simply have a bad habit of looking on the internet for information to complete their assignments before they have even thought about it themselves! Encourage your child to think first and to struggle through assignments on their own. The internet should only be used to research what other people say about a topic, not to find the answer for a particular homework question.

#3 – Respond to cheating when it does occur.
If you find yourself in a situation where your child is accused of cheating, resist the temptation to rescue your child or shift the blame to the school or teacher. To be sure, sometimes the school or the teacher may share the blame for not creating a healthy ethical environment (see tip #4 below), but the true lesson to be learned about honesty and integrity is how do we maintain it despite the environment in which we work, study or live. In this light, your child’s cheating incident can be a powerful moment for learning about the importance of ethics and integrity and it should be responded to in this manner. Most schools, colleges and universities have a graduated sanctioning process where the first violation by a student will not permanently harm their academic progress (this of course depends on the egregiousness of the violation). So, if your child did indeed violate academic integrity standards by, for example, plagiarizing, copying during a test, or copying homework, respond in a way that teaches the students that there are costs to our unethical choices and that there are usually ethical alternatives that could have been chosen.

#4- Ask your child’s school what they are doing about student cheating.
Many students cheat because it is normative, that is, “everyone is doing it.” So, if you want to prevent your child from resorting to cheating, then you may want to inquire with your child’s school to find out what they are doing to reduce cheating and enhance academic integrity. A healthy ethical environment is the best way to support your child in making ethical decisions and acting in an ethical manner. Push the school to act and implement structures, programs, and processes for academic integrity if they do not already have them. Complain about teachers who allow cheating to happen in their classrooms.

#5- Engage in conversations about academic integrity and the harm of student cheating.
In our book, Cheating in School, we identify that a lack of conversation is one of the main factors that has shaped the student cheating phenomenon in schools, colleges, and universities. We simply do not talk about academic integrity and ethics often enough. In our quest for academic success (defined by grade point averages and graduation rates) and our fear of leaving any child “behind,” we have neglected to emphasize that the ends do not justify the means. We have neglected to emphasize for students that a grade point average, diploma or degree is not worth anything if they are the result of cheating. If you talk to your child often about the importance of integrity and ethics, and model it with your own behavior, your child will listen. Multiple conversations between students, parents, teachers and administrators need to occur if we are going to find our way forward, reduce cheating in school, and enhance our children’s learning.

Police in a small Ohio town are looking for two young girls — believed to be 12 and 14 years old — who robbed the 1st National Bank and eluded a police helicopter and dogs, The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Police say they pair entered the bank in Symmes Township around 3:20 p.m. on Tuesday and handed the teller a note demanding money. The girls implied they would harm bank employees, but did not appear to have weapons, they say.

One is described as heavyset, around 5-feet-4 inches wearing a hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans. The second is thin, around 5 feet tall and wearing a baseball cap.

Two Questions:  Were either of them wearing braces?  Was the note spelled correctly?

A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found a link between celibacy and good grades.  Among high school students who earned mostly A’s, 32 percent had intercourse compared with 69 percent of their peers with D’s and F’s.  As for risk-taking measures like drinking alcohol or using condoms, the better students were more cautious.

Percentage of high school students who engaged in each behavior and their grades:

Ever had sex? A=32%, B=46%. C=59%, D-F=69%

Had sex before age? 13  A=3%, B=4%, C=9%, D-F=18%

Had sex with 4 or more partners? A=7%, B=13%, C=19%, D-F=31%

Currently sexually active?  A=24%, B=34%, C=43%, D-F=54%

Drank alcohol or used drugs before sex?  A=16%, B=18%, C=25%, D-F=40%

So the question is does having sex contribute to lower grades? Or do less sexually active students have more time to study?  Just thought I would ask.

Bullying has become such a “hot button” issue that the first lady, Michelle Obama and the U.S. Department of Education have been involved in what the school’s role should be.

Traditionally schools have ignored the problem saying it was just a part of children growing up.  But the recent spate of suicides and the onset of cyberbullying have drawn the attention of the media and parents.

Children who are being ostracized they are different – too fat, not cool,  too academic or gay can no be ignored by school officials.  There is something wrong when pre-teen and teenagers feel that suicide is the only answer to  the anxiety of loneliness.

But no mistake, bullying cannot be dealt with by legislation in spite of what politicians preach.  We need a community of adults, acting in unison acknowledging the problem and taking joint action.  And that means the schools as well.

Unlike America’s K-12 system students from around the world compete to gain a seat in America’s post-secondary school system.  President Obama has been pushing to improve the nation’s competitiveness by doubling the number of college graduates.

A new report issued by Public Agenda indicates that 2.8 million students enroll in some form of higher education each year. Only one in five of those who enroll in two-year institutions earn an associate degree within three years, and only two in five of those who start four-year colleges complete their degrees within six years.  Those who fail to graduate from universities are those who were the 66% who completed K-12 education.

Why do students leave college?  The report concludes that most dropouts leave college because they have trouble going to school while working to support themselves.

Among those who dropped out, nearly 6 in 10 got no help from their parents in paying tuition. Among those who got degrees, more than 6 in 10 had tuition help from their families.  About 7 in 10 of the dropouts said they had no scholarship or loan aid. Among those who got degrees, only about four in 10 went without such aid.

Almost three-quarters of those who completed a degree had household incomes above $35,000. Among the dropouts, more than half had household incomes below $35,000. And while 7 in 10 of the college graduates had parents who had completed at least some college work, four in 10 of the dropouts had parents with nothing beyond a high school diploma.

Colleges need to be aware, the report emphasized, that only about a quarter of those enrolled in higher education fit the popular image of a college student living in a dorm and attending classes full time. Almost as many have dependent children.

The top reason the dropouts gave for leaving college was that it was just too hard to support themselves and go to school at the same time. Balancing work and school was a bigger barrier than finding money for tuition, they said. In fact, more than a third of the dropouts said that even if they got a grant that covered their books and tuition, it would be hard to go back to school, given their work and family commitments.

Asked to rate 12 possible changes, the dropouts’ most popular solutions were allowing part-time students to qualify for financial aid, offering more courses on weekends and evenings, cutting costs and providing child care.

For me, it appears that colleges are more concerned about getting students into them rather than having students graduating.  With the costs of going to university increasing faster than the costs of inflation, it appears that the Obama administration should hold a university summit with a focus on increasing the university graduation rate, not merely the admission rate.