Last month in Long Island, six high school students and one college student were arrested for cheating on the SATs. Apparently, the high school students felt such stress at taking the SATs that they paid their good buddy, who graduated before them and was in college, to take the SATs for them. They would give him the fee, he would secure a fake ID with the student's name on it, take the test (at a different high school than the one they attended) all while the high school student stayed home and slept off Friday night’s party.
This, of course, came with a price. The college student charged between $1,500 and $2,500 a test. Obviously, this paid WAY better than an on-campus, work-study position. Obviously, this pays WAY better than my middle school teaching position!
Cheating is never, under any circumstances, acceptable. As a teacher, I had to swear this to be true. But, for high school students, it is somewhat expected. This still doesn't make it right, but it's not surprising.
I will not claim to be perfect. I did my fair share of cheating in high school. One time, when my best friend was absent, I called her that evening and told her what was on the Biology quiz. And another time, one of my friends asked me to leave my spelling test over on the side of my desk so he could copy from me. I did and we both ended up with D’s. Serves us right.
What is surprising is that high school seniors had $1,500 at their disposal! Even if the senior had already made assistant manager at McDonalds, I can’t imagine that a high school senior could accumulate $1,500 easily. I mean, buying a new GAP hoodie every week does take its toll on one's income.
I held a pretty decent, steady job at a day care (after my stint at selling athletic shoes to senior citizens) and I rarely had enough money for gas to cruise through the McGaggle’s parking lot on Friday night! Add to that, I had two parents who would remind me every pay day that I needed to put 10% back for savings right off the bat. Even saving 10% (which I only did about 10% of the time!), it would have taken me until my sophomore year in college to accumulate $1,500!!
Cheating aside, I’m more perplexed as to how these high school students could secure the “fee” required to have this brainiac take the SATs for them without raising a major red flag (or red balance!) with their financial institutions – including their parents. One time when I was in college, I spent $20 on a sweater and my dad called me frivolous! I also remember my dad having marked the calendar with the day I took my college entrance exams and waking me up an hour before necessary so I’d be good and awake to completely bomb the math portion!
It seems to me that if these kids have this much money at their disposal and no accountability for their time or finances, then maybe getting into college is the least of their concerns.
