> Snitching on your classmates is almost universally considered a bad thing to do here, and we would never demand that students do that, not only due to the fear of retaliation mentioned in the post, because... it's just not right, they're your classmates!
Why exactly is it "not right"?
I agree that the student should be compelled to police their peers. Both because everyone should be allowed to decide for themselves if they want to take the risk reprisals, and also because it may create perverse incentives.
But I don't accept that it's "not right". College is a golden opportunity for young people to participate in building the kind of society they want to spend the rest of their lives living in. Do they want one where corruption and other injustices are exposed in the open, or one where they are swept under the rug and allowed to perpetuate themselves?
A quick cheat or bribe for a shortcut to meet your goal feels good when you can get away with it, but how will it feel down the line when you're the one who have fallen victim and nobody will speak on your behalf? Because this is the precedent you're setting for your students here.
Not right in the way, that probably 50% do this - and you will be stuck with them for few years in multiple classes.
> College is a golden opportunity for young people to participate in building the kind of society they want to spend the rest of their lives living in
For most, it is just a piece of paper that allows them to get a job -> and often doesnt even prepare for that job in useful ways.
Also it is a place that is supposed to teach you lots of useful stuff, or at least "winder your horizons" stuff - but it fails at all of those.
Nearly everything I learned during university was done on my own.
Why exactly is it "not right"?
I agree that the student should be compelled to police their peers. Both because everyone should be allowed to decide for themselves if they want to take the risk reprisals, and also because it may create perverse incentives.
But I don't accept that it's "not right". College is a golden opportunity for young people to participate in building the kind of society they want to spend the rest of their lives living in. Do they want one where corruption and other injustices are exposed in the open, or one where they are swept under the rug and allowed to perpetuate themselves?
A quick cheat or bribe for a shortcut to meet your goal feels good when you can get away with it, but how will it feel down the line when you're the one who have fallen victim and nobody will speak on your behalf? Because this is the precedent you're setting for your students here.