Blog 1: High School and Academic Integrity
Throughout my high school career, many of my teachers taught me about academic integrity, intellectual property, and cheating. Firstly, the high school that I attended, Walsh Jesuit, is a Catholic high school that centers on the “Grad-at-Grad” statement. Moreover, this statement, which focuses on the student’s fullest possible development, consists of five characteristics, and “Intellectually Competent” is one of the five. Therefore, because intellectual competence is at the heart of Walsh Jesuit, teachers always discourage cheating and punish the violators. The “Grad-at-Grad” statement is strictly enforced at Walsh, and, because of this, I know that stealing other peoples’ work, or words, is wrong.
Walsh Jesuit also focuses on the vision of the Jesuits. This vision, which influences the “Grad-at-Grad” statement, follows the message of Jesus. As a result, religion plays a large part in the education of Walsh. As stated in the Bible, stealing is a sin and should not be committed; therefore, using, copying, or stealing, other peoples’ work goes against the message of Jesus. Additionally, going against Jesus’ message in a Catholic high school is greatly looked down upon. Because of the influence of the Jesuits’ and Jesus’ vision, academic dishonest is not accepted at Walsh Jesuit.
The ideas of Walsh Jesuit relate to the writing that students do on a regular basis. For example, there are many times when students are extremely busy with school work or other activities. During these times it is very easy to copy another’s work to alleviate some stress; however, my high school teaches that academic integrity must be upheld in all situations. As a result, Walsh’s educational approach is very beneficial, for most Walsh students, including myself, strive for academic integrity and honesty everyday. Consequently, the ideas taught at Walsh relate to the writing that students do.
The “Grad-at-Grad” statement, especially, the “Intellectually Competent” characteristic, prepares Walsh students to uphold academic integrity and shun cheating. Also, the Jesuit vision along with Jesus’ message strengthens students’ ability to stay away from academic dishonesty. Additionally, these key qualities of Walsh Jesuit’s education approach relate to the writing that students do frequently. Overall, Walsh requires academic honesty of it’s students and teaches to always respect others’ work.
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