Helping vs. Cheating

I found really interesting how in Chapter 8 we are described that the students were actually categorizing cheating as helping. They were not aware that what they were doing was bad because they were always taught to look at their neighbor’s paper if they did not know the answer. “The teachers not only let them cheat, they teach them how, they encourage them.” said the author. This problem was essentially a cultural problem because Puerto Ricans are taught from their childhood to be cooperative not competitive. It is in their nature to be helpful to others because they are taught to be this way. They could not understand why they could not help a friend when he or she needed help in a test because they are very emphatic people.

In my opinion this is a problem that is still happening frequently in Puerto Rico although the students are now more conscious that this is wrong and that it could get you in to a lot of problems. I think this problem is still linked to a cultural aspect but I do not think still has to do with helping or empathy. I think that this is has to do with the fact that Puerto Ricans are lazier and prefer to copy the answers from others instead of studying. I also think that they have this theory that they are never going to be caught or they are just not afraid to get caught and they are indifferent if they do.

I do not think that helping or cheating is fair when it comes to being evaluated because through evaluations is the only way to see what you have really learned and to know what do you have to get better at. I think that we should all help each other in the process of learning   because we should be kind and help does who need us. But when it comes to evaluation we have to demonstrate what we have learned so far for ourselves. Helping or cheating is not fair because you are stealing someone else’s knowledge and work, not proving what you can do for yourself.