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My Friend's Mother Helps Her Cheat

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DR. WALLACE: We have homework four days a week in world history. I do all my homework by myself, but my best friend's mother helps her with hers. I average a B on my homework, but my friend averages an A. I don't believe this is fair. Both of us are competitive and we want the best grade possible.

My best friend is actually cheating and because of her dishonesty, she probably will get a better grade than I will. This really irks me. My mother is mad, too. She wants me to tell the teacher about my friend and her mother, but I said no because I'm not a fink.

I know there is nothing you can do to solve this problem, but if you print my letter, maybe my friend and her mother might stop cheating because I know they read your column. - Nameless, Hammond, Ind.

NAMELESS: If your friend's mother is actually doing her daughter's homework for her, that's not just cheating, it's terrible parenting, because she's depriving her daughter of the opportunity to learn and in effect, condemning her to ignorance.

But if Mom is simply working with her daughter, helping her to understand the subject, that's what homework is all about, and she should be praised. My guess is that this is what's happening.

Forget about grade competition and focus on doing your best. Get feedback from your teacher about why you're falling short of an A, and then think about asking Mom or Dad for help.

They'd probably love working with you.

MY TEACHER IS DISHONEST

DR. WALLACE: I have two teachers who don't like me, so they make up lies about me and then call my parents, and that gets me in trouble. My other teachers are not friendly and blame me for things that I didn't do, but at least they don't blab to my parents. Teachers are supposed to be good role models. Being dishonest makes them bad role models. I'm supposed to go to school to learn, not to be deceived. I attend a private church high school. - Nameless, New York, N.Y.

NAMELESS: If you want to know who is causing all of your problems at school, look in the mirror. For some reason you feel that teachers are out to get you. That's just not true! Talk with your counselor and set up a conference with at least two of your teachers, a parent and you to find out why you have negative feelings about teachers in general.

It is important for you to get a good education and your teachers are there to help you do the very best that you can. Give them that opportunity!

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at rwallace@galesburg.net. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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Comments

3 Comments | Post Comment
LW2 Dr. Wallace that is simply not true! There are teachers out there who lie. Just like that dust up in GA where the entire school district lied in order to get money from standardized testing. And, yes, I was a witness to teachers lying on students in high school. Why did the do it? Well, teachers are human and have issues just like anyone else. Teachers are molesters and abusers too. Not all but some are. So don't think that it is the student every time. I was in honors classes from elementary to high school and I saw how the average student was treated and disrespected.
Comment: #1
Posted by: Naomi Moore
Wed Feb 15, 2012 3:50 AM
Naomi Moore, sure, some teachers lie. And Dr. Wallace doesn't always blame the kid. In this case, he's just playing the odds. When you go through life and EVERYONE else is the problem, it generally means that YOU are the problem.

At a private church high school, LW may be catching the blame for things because of general appearance. From what I've seen, these schools tend to be more stringent in things like dress code, so LW, if you're wearing snarky T-shirts, have hair that's dyed an unnatural color, wear too much makeup or have too many piercings -- you MAY be paying the price for that kind of individual expression. (Not sayin' it's right, only that it's possible.) This is especially true if you tend not to participate in class discussions, are late to class, turn in homework late or goof off in class.

You DO have the power to overcome the teachers' poor impression of you -- generally, by remaining polite and engaged in the classroom, joining discussions, turning in papers on time, doing well on homework and tests and....learning. And by offering up a thoughtful, relevant opinion or question before or after class: "Mr. M, I get your point about the Civil War being about more than slavery -- but do you think the war would have occurred without slavery as a rallying point?"
Comment: #2
Posted by: hedgehog
Wed Feb 15, 2012 6:06 PM
yeah...what hedgehog said; common denominator and all.
Comment: #3
Posted by: Lori
Thu Feb 16, 2012 5:00 AM
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