Why Are Honor Codes Important
The Honor Code
“An anonymous author stated that he has learned, when people honor each other, there is a trust established that leads to interdependence, and a deep respect for each other.” (Unknown) This quote gives an exact definition on the importance of an honor code for schools and how students should honor their school, fellow classmates, and most importantly their faculty. Honor codes exemplify a well-established atmosphere where faculties of a school reassure themselves and parents that school is a respectful and hardworking environment. Also honor codes create an environment where kids learn how to conduct themselves as a mature individual and take that maturity with them after they graduate. Honor codes allow a mutually expected …show more content…
bond between the students and faculty because trust is a mutually shared value.
At Valparaiso University they live each day embracing the honor code. The University takes pride in the honor code which directs the students on the right path towards education along with a strong work ethic. “I have neither given nor received nor have I tolerated others use of unauthorized aid.” (V. University) This saying is located at the end of every quiz, test, exam, and project to ensure that the students at the Valparaiso will “agree to hold each other accountable and act with honesty for everything they do at the University. It is vowing to not cheat or skip the work that is involved in being a student.” (V. University)The honor code builds a sense of comradery at the University which is important because it encourages cooperation and builds a foundation of friendship, which can last a lifetime. Not only does the honor code keep students from cheating and plagiarizing others’ work, but it is also guides teens about respect and how respect is important for teachers, students, and oneself. The honor council at Valparaiso establishes new topics or a concern pertaining to the honor code. This council consists of students and teachers who decide whether that topic or concern can be solved. A graduate at Valparaiso talked about the importance of the honor code and how she realized that will someone will not always be watching over your shoulder. Students cannot argue that independence is a good thing because depending on someone to be at your every call is the same as thinking you’re never going to grow up, it will happen eventually so it is good to learn early.
Some may argue that there is no need to formalize something that should already be expected. Students should already be honorable and trustworthy as part of decent student behavior. This is true, but being a student one realizes that many who attend school still have not reached the level of maturity which necessitates policy enforcement. Many students need structure because without rules many kids believe that they should not care about what is important, which includes being respectful. Enforcing the code teaches students that honor and respect are important, not only in school but also after they graduate since it shows the proper way to act in every situation. If students do not know how to be honorable they most likely will not be able to “conquer the real world” because they do not have the proper values to work or interact with others.
As William Shakespeare stated “mine honor is my life; both grow in one; take honor from me, and my life is done.” (Shakespeare) Reading Shakespeare’s quote one realizes how important honor is, along with enforcing honor. If a man rather die for his honor than why should students not have honor enforced, to teach why it’s important. The honor code is the heart and soul of a school; it allows students to respect one another and reassures that the code is important because we are important. Honor is not something that can be taught on a YouTube video, honor is part of everyday life.
A major role in the honor code is to emphasize that cheating is wrong.
An article by David Callahan discussed how honor codes reduce student cheating. First he mentioned how professors in college discover multiple students who plagiarize. Usually professors recognize language that is very sophisticated for a college writing level. Cheating is an ongoing problem on campuses with essays and exams. It was mentioned the University of Central Florida handled an ongoing “cheating scandal” on a mid-term that involved 200 students in 2011where as Universities having honor codes reported rare incidents of cheating. The article begins to compare Universities with honor codes to Universities without them. In 1993 there was a study done by Donald McCabe and Linda Trevino who researched the impacts of the honor code and discovered that there was less cheating in honor code environments. Then in 1999 they revisited the issue of the honor codes and why they are important. They discovered that “institutions with honor codes frame the issue of academic integrity in a fundamentally different way from students who do not have enforced honor codes.” (Callahan) Donald and his colleagues wrote that “students see themselves as a part of a moral community that offers significant trust and freedom which has specific rules and expectations which must enacted to preserve that trust and freedom” (Callahan) when a honor code is enforced. Lastly the article poses a question on why schools that do not have honor codes should create them since it is proven that “40 years of research have demonstrated that honor codes make a difference.” (Callahan) Not only does the honor code enable students to learn how to honor others but also teaches them that honor corresponds with inanimate objects like a
test.
A proverb reads that “a hundred years cannot repair a moment’s loss of honor.” (Proverb) The honor code ensures that students take pride in themselves and realize its importance. Not many live to be a hundred years old, so why lose honor when every day students can live and breathe honor at school. Think of the honor code as a teacher, it helps students prepare for the future; it gives students the opportunity to express themselves without doing the wrong thing, and it also reassures students that they are important to school. The honor codes is much more than a set of rules that may only pertain to one subject, the code represents a lifestyle that will pertain to the rest of students’ everyday lives.
“An anonymous author stated that he has learned, when people honor each other, there is a trust established that leads to interdependence, and a deep respect for each other.” (Unknown) This quote gives an exact definition on the importance of an honor code for schools and how students should honor their school, fellow classmates, and most importantly their faculty. Honor codes exemplify a well-established atmosphere where faculties of a school reassure themselves and parents that school is a respectful and hardworking environment. Also honor codes create an environment where kids learn how to conduct themselves as a mature individual and take that maturity with them after they graduate. Honor codes allow a mutually expected …show more content…
bond between the students and faculty because trust is a mutually shared value.
At Valparaiso University they live each day embracing the honor code. The University takes pride in the honor code which directs the students on the right path towards education along with a strong work ethic. “I have neither given nor received nor have I tolerated others use of unauthorized aid.” (V. University) This saying is located at the end of every quiz, test, exam, and project to ensure that the students at the Valparaiso will “agree to hold each other accountable and act with honesty for everything they do at the University. It is vowing to not cheat or skip the work that is involved in being a student.” (V. University)The honor code builds a sense of comradery at the University which is important because it encourages cooperation and builds a foundation of friendship, which can last a lifetime. Not only does the honor code keep students from cheating and plagiarizing others’ work, but it is also guides teens about respect and how respect is important for teachers, students, and oneself. The honor council at Valparaiso establishes new topics or a concern pertaining to the honor code. This council consists of students and teachers who decide whether that topic or concern can be solved. A graduate at Valparaiso talked about the importance of the honor code and how she realized that will someone will not always be watching over your shoulder. Students cannot argue that independence is a good thing because depending on someone to be at your every call is the same as thinking you’re never going to grow up, it will happen eventually so it is good to learn early.
Some may argue that there is no need to formalize something that should already be expected. Students should already be honorable and trustworthy as part of decent student behavior. This is true, but being a student one realizes that many who attend school still have not reached the level of maturity which necessitates policy enforcement. Many students need structure because without rules many kids believe that they should not care about what is important, which includes being respectful. Enforcing the code teaches students that honor and respect are important, not only in school but also after they graduate since it shows the proper way to act in every situation. If students do not know how to be honorable they most likely will not be able to “conquer the real world” because they do not have the proper values to work or interact with others.
As William Shakespeare stated “mine honor is my life; both grow in one; take honor from me, and my life is done.” (Shakespeare) Reading Shakespeare’s quote one realizes how important honor is, along with enforcing honor. If a man rather die for his honor than why should students not have honor enforced, to teach why it’s important. The honor code is the heart and soul of a school; it allows students to respect one another and reassures that the code is important because we are important. Honor is not something that can be taught on a YouTube video, honor is part of everyday life.
A major role in the honor code is to emphasize that cheating is wrong.
An article by David Callahan discussed how honor codes reduce student cheating. First he mentioned how professors in college discover multiple students who plagiarize. Usually professors recognize language that is very sophisticated for a college writing level. Cheating is an ongoing problem on campuses with essays and exams. It was mentioned the University of Central Florida handled an ongoing “cheating scandal” on a mid-term that involved 200 students in 2011where as Universities having honor codes reported rare incidents of cheating. The article begins to compare Universities with honor codes to Universities without them. In 1993 there was a study done by Donald McCabe and Linda Trevino who researched the impacts of the honor code and discovered that there was less cheating in honor code environments. Then in 1999 they revisited the issue of the honor codes and why they are important. They discovered that “institutions with honor codes frame the issue of academic integrity in a fundamentally different way from students who do not have enforced honor codes.” (Callahan) Donald and his colleagues wrote that “students see themselves as a part of a moral community that offers significant trust and freedom which has specific rules and expectations which must enacted to preserve that trust and freedom” (Callahan) when a honor code is enforced. Lastly the article poses a question on why schools that do not have honor codes should create them since it is proven that “40 years of research have demonstrated that honor codes make a difference.” (Callahan) Not only does the honor code enable students to learn how to honor others but also teaches them that honor corresponds with inanimate objects like a
test.
A proverb reads that “a hundred years cannot repair a moment’s loss of honor.” (Proverb) The honor code ensures that students take pride in themselves and realize its importance. Not many live to be a hundred years old, so why lose honor when every day students can live and breathe honor at school. Think of the honor code as a teacher, it helps students prepare for the future; it gives students the opportunity to express themselves without doing the wrong thing, and it also reassures students that they are important to school. The honor codes is much more than a set of rules that may only pertain to one subject, the code represents a lifestyle that will pertain to the rest of students’ everyday lives.