Cheating in chemistry appears again

Cheating+in+chemistry+appears+again

Hannah Haworth, Co-Web Editor

It’s that time of year again. The annual chemistry cheating scandal is upon us. The usual array of frustrated students are back, and they’re blaming science teacher Eric Mabie.

Mabie called out students in chemistry this week for cheating on bookwork, and currently has a list of the cheating students. If these students do not tell their parents and have them email him, they will be sent to the office.

Personally, this punishment, although slightly insane, is completely justified since cheating is a touchy subject, but students are complaining and blaming their cheating on Mabie.

Some students justify their cheating because he was gone for three weeks, and others like to say that he is just a bad teacher. I have to disagree. I went through chemistry with Mabie last year and physics with him this year, and he is not a bad teacher in any aspect.

Mabie teaches his classes at a college level, and the students are fully aware of that, but if you do not apply yourself and actively help yourself learn and understand the concepts, then, of course, you’re going to think he is a bad teacher. Chemistry is a hard, work-heavy class that is by no means easy, but justifying cheating because Mabie is a “bad teacher” is the equivalent to a whiny kid blaming their parents for grounding them. Of course you’re going to be mad at Mabie, but the only person to blame is yourself.

I, too, had a substitute teacher for three weeks, yet I do not cheat, and my grade has not drastically dropped, because I work every day to help myself understand the concepts. Just because the bookwork is 59 problems does not give you any reason to cheat. Students have done the bookwork before, and you can do it again.

I do understand that being abandoned without an actual chemistry teacher is extremely hard, especially when the other chemistry teacher at the school, Carissa Dickes, is on maternity leave, but there are other ways to review a chapter.

If a student is seriously struggling to understand a chapter they can find resources online such as Youtube videos or Khan Academy, and when Mabie and Dickes are available, they can go ask questions before school. Using online websites to cheat is not the correct way to learn or help you further yourself; they will just make you fall further behind.

Although whispers are spreading through the sophomore and junior class about whether they cheated or not, this is not a first-time occurrence. There is cheating in chemistry every year, and this is just another aspect of Piper life.