Why Do Students Violate The Honor Code

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Some people may think honor codes help with plagiarism and cheating, but they are actually just another rule, out of many, students have to follow at their school. I attend Sacopee Valley, a small high school located in Southern Maine, where we have an academic integrity code in place, which is better than an honor code. Currently if a student violates our code it is only a warning to not do it again and, if the teacher allows it, the student can make the assignment up to a sixty-nine (Source G). I believe that we should revise our integrity code to be harsher on dual-offenders but we should not put an honor code in place. Why would you put something in place where students have to be the referees instead of learning? In my eyes this is not …show more content…

This source states that each student must write “on my honor as a student, I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment/exam” on every paper to say they didn't violate the honor code in any way, shape, or form. However, actions speak louder than words and in the University of Virginia, where this code is implemented, they still have a plagiarism problem; “Thirty nine of those accused of violating the school’s honor code system have either dropped out or been expelled - the only penalty available for such a crime.” (Source D) I disagree with this statement and believe that this penalty is too harsh and extreme for anyone and everyone who violates this honor code. Some students even lose their diplomas for violating the honor code; this is way outside of the honor code boundaries. Once a student has graduated and received their diploma, they are officially outside of the school's jurisdiction and, therefore, the school can no longer revoke their diploma. I also disagree with how a 21 student member committee can determine the fate of their peers. Who's to say that those 21 members haven't committed an honor code violation. They likely wouldn't be caught because they are on the honor code committee and would never do anything to violate it, right? Since Sacopee is a small school, we can’t have students being expelled or dropping out. It would be very difficult to implement a 21 member committee not just because we wouldn't have the numbers, but because I guarantee that almost 100% of Sacopee’s students have violated our integrity code in some way and it would be extremely difficult to find 21 “perfect angels” to run the committee. These reasons, along with others, are why Sacopee should not implement an honor code but revise their integrity code to be harsher on dual-offenders, like in school suspension, for

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