When I think about cheating in school, I am immediately brought back to the scene in Animal House in which Bluto and D-Day, members of the Delta Tau Chi fraternity, are searching through a dumpster for a copy of the soon-to-be-administered psych exam. A triumphant Bluto pops out of the piles of papers with the exam in his hand. What they don’t realize is they’ve walked right into a trap. Their rival fraternity, the arrogant and entitled Omegas, placed a copy of the exam with the incorrect answers in the trash. Damn those Omegas!
The age-old tradition of cheating in school has come a long way since Animal House landed in movie theaters in 1978. Late-night dumpster diving and passing notes back and forth during tests seems so quaint today. My fraternity had a unique and organized approach to gaining an advantage. We had an officer who was responsible for maintaining an archive of “scoop”—code for tests and quizzes from prior years. Some of our professors administered the same tests year after year, so we collected, saved and organized these documents into a library of sorts. Taking the Psych 101 mid-term next week? Go get the scoop (last year’s exam) and memorize it.
Today’s students are armed with a new, revolutionary tool—AI. In our cover story, writer Gabe Hiatt explores how local high school students are leveraging it. They use AI in productive ways, like creating study guides. They use it in starkly unethical ways, like blatant cheating on tests. There are gray areas, like relying on AI to polish presentations and papers. Some students shared that if they don’t use AI to cheat, or at least cut corners, they are at a disadvantage relative to their peers. We live in a competitive area and everyone else is doing it, right? Hiatt also interviews educators and administrators about the fast-changing landscape of AI policy, what they’re seeing from students and how they try to sniff out when AI is being misused and abused.
Speaking of educators, this issue also includes our annual “Lessons Learned” feature. Tamara Lytle interviews six accomplished teachers and administrators who share some of the wisdom they’ve gained after many years of service to our schools and our children. Their insights are revealing, humorous and, at times, poignant.
Shifting to another school-related topic, I laughed when I read Kim O’Connell’s Back Story article. In the 1970s and 1980s, nerds everywhere (including me; I was a closet dork in the sixth grade) were enjoying the role-playing fantasy game Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), which features a host of demons, dragons, the undead and other unsavory monsters. Parents across the nation freaked out and believed the game was leading to nefarious behaviors. APS decided to formally ban it in the schools. Every generation thinks the next generation is up to no good.
I hope you find our September/October Education issue useful and enlightening. If you’re not already a subscriber, please join us today by visiting ArlingtonMagazine.com and clicking on the bright orange rectangle that says “subscribe” at the top. Not ready to plunk down $19.95 for one year of terrific local journalism? Give us a test drive by signing up for our free email newsletter at arlingtonmagazine.com/email.
As always, we love hearing from you. Feel free to reach out to me at greg.hamilton@arlingtonmagazine.com. Have a great fall!
Greg Hamilton, Publisher
