Raising Boys

Of cheaters and cheating March 17, 2006

I’m fuming mad. I’ve been this way since 4 p.m., when I went to Dylan’s school and found out that his English testpaper for the third periodical exams had been switched with another’s. It was so cunningly done, I would have to give credit to the person behind it. He or she is the ultimate cheat.

I don’t usually go to my son’s school in the afternoon but I thank god I did. I would never have found out that someone took his testpaper and left one in its place, one with the name of the owner erased.

The teacher did not notice that anything was amiss. Since my son was the only one who did not have a test result, she naturally assumed that my son just forgot to write his name on the paper. However, my son, when I arrived at the school, told me that the testpaper was not his.

In the first place, the handwriting was so different, anyone with one eye would have noticed immediately. He also saw that there was a name written on the testpaper but it was erased. If you hold it against the light, you can still make out the letter “j” and what looked to be a letter “f”. None of these letters are in my son’s name.

I raised the matter with the teacher at once and she promised an investigation. I told her that I could not believe it was the handiwork of a child. No first grader could be so crafty as to sift through the testpapers, find one with a high score and replaced it with his or her name. It had to be an adult.

The teacher and her househelp, who goes to school every lunchtime, immediately suspected someone. The househelp told the teacher she sees this parent always going near the teacher’s table. This person, a parent, brings his or her kid to school and waits until class is over. This parent stays in the classroom during lunch break and is the last to leave. This parent would have all the opportuniy in the world because the teacher took her sweet time in returning the testpapers. These had stayed on her table for over a week before she returned them.

I could not believe there are people who would stoop so low.