Are kids using their cell phones to cheat?

United States
June 14, 2010 12:34pm CST
I was having a conversation this morning with hubby and his boss.. and we got on the topic of final exams. In our area most of the high school kids are dealing with their final exams right now as schools are letting out in a couple weeks. Hubby's boss mentioned that his niece failed her history exam.. and hubby joked that all you really have to do is look up the answers on your web enabled phone. Hubby's boss said that he'd heard college kids were really actually doing that! They'd been taking bathroom breaks and looking up answers on their phones.. so the colleges had to make a rule that if you leave the exam to use the bathroom, you must leave your phone on your desk. Have you heard of anything like this happening in your area? Does your child's school have cellphone rules in place? Do you have rules for your child in regards to how they use their phone?
2 people like this
19 responses
@lilybug (21107)
• United States
14 Jun 10
First of all, your kids don't get out for a few more weeks? Wow. Jeremy has been out for almost 2 weeks already. Cell phones are not allowed by students at my son's school at all. If a student is found with a cell phone it will be confiscated and they cannot have it back till the end of the school day.
1 person likes this
• United States
14 Jun 10
Our middle school has the same rules... probably the same at the high school too. Our school year ends the end of June and starts the first week of September after labor day. Works for us because our weather isn't really warm yet, but August is always our hottest month. Probably why most schools in the north east follow the same schedule.
1 person likes this
@lilybug (21107)
• United States
14 Jun 10
There is one charter school up the road from here that gets out of school next week, then has 2 weeks off before starting the summer school program for 4 weeks, then 2 weeks off then start back for the next school year halfway through August.
• United States
14 Jun 10
That would work for me! LOL I dread the long 2 months ahead. I think it would be good for kids to do some school in the summer.. even if it's a month of half days.. just so they don't forget all the stuff before the next year starts. You know how much time they waste just reviewing?
@jillhill (37354)
• United States
14 Jun 10
When I was in Arizona my granddaughter was taking finals...they blocked all cell phones....if there was an emergency the kids had to use the phone in the office.....so I do think they are aware that this is taking place....so sad.
1 person likes this
• Mexico
15 Jun 10
Hi jill hill: I understand why they do this and in general I approuve that they take these mesures because there will be at least one boy that would like to pass the exam without even studying and now it's easier to find the answers in you cell phone so, unfortunetly, the teachers have to think faster than their students in these subjects. Thanks for your answer. Have a nice day. ALVARO.
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
16 Jun 10
I think that the best thing would be to make them leave all cell phones in their purses or bookbags..I haven't heard of them cheating this way yet..mostly using calculators on math sometimes..but dang have you seen some of those test now days? You'd have to be almost a rocket scientist to pass one. We had a teacher in High school(9th grade) Mr. Bond was his name..and he would leave the room almost every time he gave a test..you should have seen all the kids grabbing their books..lol I don't know where he went but we assumed it was the teachers lounge for 30 minutes..then he would come back take the test..I can't tell you how many people made A's and B's on test they probably had a clue about..
• United States
16 Jun 10
I had a math teacher in middle school who was very lenient.. and I too took advantage of it. Thankfully it didn't hurt me too badly because I do pick up on things quickly as long as I try to learn it... problem is to this day I struggle with long division!
@Opal26 (17679)
• United States
15 Jun 10
Hey kats! That's why I love your discussions! Even though I don't have any kids and my friends kids are all grown I still like to know what's going on out there and I am always amazed with what these kids keep coming up with! Cell phones in the bathroom to cheat!lol Smart kids! Busted! Leave the phones on the desk! Nice going teachers! Damn, when I was a kid I was so scared to cheat! Just trying to look at someone elses paper was risky enough!And if it was Biology Class I was moved to the back of the room so nobody could cheat off of me! I was the smart one!
• United States
15 Jun 10
I was the smart one too.. never had to cheat, and also would have been too afraid to. The cheaters are the ones who will suffer though, because the time will come when they'll need to know this stuff, and won't be able to cheat.
@CJscott (4187)
• Portage La Prairie, Manitoba
14 Jun 10
Yeah, in my college and this was years back, we had to hand in our phones to the instructor and collect them again at the end of the exams. Same with my Sisters high school exams, to many people just think they can cheat their way through life, and sadly the examiners thought of that already and try to make sure they are as honest as they can enforce them to be. Sincerely and With Appreciation.
• United States
14 Jun 10
Seems like common sense, doesn't it?
1 person likes this
@CJscott (4187)
• Portage La Prairie, Manitoba
14 Jun 10
How commonly do you see common sense practiced in this day and though?
• United States
15 Jun 10
Yeah... it's certainly rare, not common!
@karen1969 (1779)
14 Jun 10
Well, I haven't heard of this, but it shouldn't be allowed, of course. I think it is very fair to get kids to leave their phones behind, when they go to the toilet. My daughter doesn't have a web-enabled mobile phone, so it is not an issue with her. I think they are too expensive for many schoolkids to own. My son has an iPhone but he is 18 and bought it himself.
1 person likes this
• United States
14 Jun 10
I thought about getting my 13 year old a phone for his birthday, unfortunately our plan won't let us add a 3rd line and we can't afford to start another plan. I was going to get an android phone like hubby has and give my son my phone. It is web enabled, but it's not 3g so it's a pain to get on the web and it's slow as heck! Next year our plan will let us add a 3rd line, so we might do it then.. but I would tell him he has to leave the phone in his locker while at school, otherwise he loses it.
1 person likes this
@ravinskye (8237)
• United States
15 Jun 10
I'm not sure if our schools have cell phone rules or not because none of my kids are old enough to have a cell phone. I'm sure lots of kids cheat using their cell phones though. Especially having access to the internet. But they also could text each other. Or they can text the companies that I work for like ChaCha or KGB that answer questions by text. We get a good bit of homework like questions during the day that could very well be kids taking tests too.
• United States
15 Jun 10
Yeah.. I figured that back when I was doing ChaCha.. think it's part of why I gave it up.
• Canada
15 Jun 10
Yes, it is a common problem that is why they usually ban them from being brought into classes.
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
21 Jun 10
Kids who are cheaters will find a way to cheat. I haven't heard of this one, but I'm not surprised. My daughter's phone doesn't have web, so no worries. yet....
• Malaysia
15 Jun 10
i do know of some schools that ban cell phones in school because of this... but i'm not sure if it's the same everywhere. and some colleges that i know of have started a similar ban during their examination sessions..
@toutat01 (22)
• Algeria
18 Jun 10
Well, I heard about this, and some news papers in my area wrote articles on it.
• New Zealand
16 Jun 10
Definitely doesn't happen in my school. During the exams we get checked for cell phones, there are many supervisors and really...even if you have a cell in your pocket, the momment you take it out is the momment you won't see it again lol.
@Qman333 (63)
• United States
15 Jun 10
Yes, kids use this to cheat in tests and quizzes, which is the reason teachers banned the use of them in schools. Instead of using this many people in schools have started to get answers through other means like writing them inside coke bottles or small sheets of paper.
• Philippines
4 Jul 10
Who knows? i tried to cheat using my cell phone when i was in my first year college. our professor had to give a VEEEEEEEEERY long chapter exam.. Good thing i typed some of the lessons in my phone 2 days before that exam. The result? i passed with an A grade. haha
@natnickeep (2336)
• United States
14 Jun 10
Wow I haven't heard of this before but it's kind of funny. And to think people used to write it all on their arm. LOL.
• Mexico
15 Jun 10
Hi kats meow: The answer for this question is really simple. Yes they are doing this. I think that there will be always some students that would try to cheat on their exams and now they have more oportunities. You can send a message with you cell phone to another person or what's worst, you can take a picture of your exam. You can save important information on your cell phone and then read it. In my university, when we present an exam, we have to turn off our cell phones. I think it's sad that technologie would be use in this way but it's a reality and we can't deny it. Thanks for your answer. Have a nice day. ALVARO
@Metatronik (6199)
• Pasay, Philippines
15 Jun 10
This is my first time to hear about cellphones on how they rule it nowadays. When I was still a high school and college student the only rule was not to use cellphones during class hours and that is actually a normal or natural rule. But now it is becoming strict since a lot of people are being wise on how they are going to cheat during examinations by using other technologies. But I must confess I've used yahoo messenger during our quiz to ask the answer, then my professor did not ever caught me since they don't have any idea about the messenger.
@oldchem1 (8132)
14 Jun 10
Certainly not in my son's school as they are not allowed into exams!!
@amithkp (56)
• India
15 Jun 10
i dnt bt here it is not possible bcos during xams breaks are not given the exams are of three hours the children should be having cell but they should not bring it int the school