Copying and Morality

I remember the story of Gandhiji as narrated in his autobiography  ‘Experiments with Truth’. He talks of a childhood event when his headmaster prompts him to copy the correct spelling of ‘kettle’ in a dictation test given by a visiting education inspector. However Gandhi steadfastly refuses to copy and later gets reprimanded.

A second incident was narrated by my wife who recalls being a kid with staunch belief in certain principles. Cheating or malpractices of any kind make her go red even to this day. She mentions the incident in her class 8 when the room invigilator prompted her to copy from the neighbouring student. She refused. However the invigilator was in no mood to relent. He forced her to rewrite all answers by copying them from another kid’s paper. She went home that day crying inconsolably.

However, I am dismayed to see the students of today. They show no qualms about copying in case it fetches them a better score. I am not jumping to the conclusion that all students are of this nature. However, the percentage has been steadily climbing.

What is to blame?

  • Is it the steady moral decay of the society?
  • Is it the unnatural pressure to score more?
  • Is it the pressure from peers to look ‘cool’?

I fail to fathom the real reason. Reprimands, punishments, naming and shaming – all of them are to no avail. When push comes to shove, kids who have cheated once are very likely to cheat yet again. They are not bothered by the unpleasant effects of getting caught. Moral lecturing has limited effect. This is a problem I am yet to find a definitive answer to.

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