inkskinned:

I was given 52 detentions for suspected cheating, almost suspended for it. The principal called me to his office, made some cheesy annoying statement about how this kind of behavior wouldn’t be tolerated. 

 Okay, I said. I’m sorry, it won’t happen again. It was a mistake. 

 Already that year I knew three people who were out longterm for mental illness. Already kids were high in classes just to get by them. Already what was tolerated was a bunch of kids having breakdowns. 

 It was a mistake it won’t happen again. I make sure that my answers are big on the science test. The boy next to me can’t afford medication for his learning disability and hasn’t slept since his parents split and if he doesn’t get a 2.0 he loses his team, the last thing he has left. 

 It was a mistake it won’t happen again. When I pass her my homework I ask her quietly if her mom was getting better. When the semester ends and we are in different classes, I start doing her assignments on the side. She sends me snaps from chemotherapy. 

 It was a mistake it won’t happen again. When I hand over the notes, I make sure there’s plenty of marginal positive thoughts. They haven’t smiled all month. I know what it’s like to be too tired and doing nothing at all. 

 It was a mistake. Your students are resorting to immoral choices because they have no other option. You make grades the be-all and end-all priority, no matter what else might be happening. You force them into situations where they can either fail and definitely have a permanent punishment, or cheat and probably pass – it’s worth the risk. Your students stand in solidarity, not to praise the might of learning: but to gather together in the right of living. You are the one who made the dichotomy of student/human. We are not both, are given “either like it or leave it”, are trained almost like robots. Do the work, don’t ask questions, don’t challenge the authority. 

 It was a mistake. It won’t happen again where you can see it. But I love learning. And if I can be the one who keeps your student in the classroom by giving them that extra push? Maybe I’m doing a better job than you. Cheating wouldn’t be a problem if we weren’t already being cheated. You can’t set us up to lose and then get frustrated when we rig the game, too.