Academic honesty

What is Academic honesty?

Academic honesty means, simply,  Being Honest in School

It means NOT cheating on tests
It means NOT handing assignments with your name on it that have been written by your mother, your brother, someone your mother paid for called a tutor, a friend in your class, a stranger in a book or a stranger on the internet. This is plagiarism! If you want to use other people's ideas or images you have to give them credit by citing your sources.

Your teacher wants to evaluate your work, no one else’s.
It’s a simple thing to judge -  Ask yourself - every time you hand in something, whether it be a test, essay, exam, lab report –
Ask yourself  - has 100% of this  work been done by me?
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We know why students cheat

• They are interested in the easiest possible way through a course. 
• They put off assignments that do not interest them.   
• They have poor time management and planning skills. They run out of time as the due date looms. 
• They fear that their writing is inadequate. 
• They have other things going on in their lives that seem more important.
• They like the thrill breaking rules. 
• Can you think of others reasons?

The question is.. What can they do to prevent the "need" to cheat?  Look for hints in the list above  (e.g. don't procrastinate with assignments). Ask parents, counsellors and teachers for help. Stop by the library and ask for a book on study skills and stress. Managing time and asking for help are things to be learned along with everything else in school.

Academic Honesty and Computer Use at Charles Best Secondary School

A The password is a student’s personal property and must not be shared.

B The computers are to be used for SCHOOL WORK ONLY. If a student finishes an assignment early, he or she should log off. This will allow other students both in and outside school to use the machines and cable space.

Note: school work does not include personal e-mail, games, personal chatrooms and blogs, social networking, messaging, point-to-point file sharing, RSS feeds.

C Students may open their personal e-mail only to send their homework back and forth from school. We prefer they use their district mail account.

D No Downloading

E Students must not cut and paste text from websites unless they give credit to their sources, and use quotation marks or paraphrase (re-write in their own words). They may only download images free of copyright.

F Computer systems are district property and may inspected or moderated if abuse is suspected.

G Students are expected to cooperate with the above. Failure to comply will result in the loss of computer privileges at Best.