Subscribe to RSS
ShadowWriter: Cause or Effect?
Enterprising Entrepreneur or Big Bad Wolf?
This month’s Chronicle of Higher Education had a very interesting article in it. It’s called “The Shadow Scholar: The Man Who Writes Your Students’ Papers Tells His Story.” It’s written under the pseudonym of Ed Dante (Remind you of a classic book character? Maybe one from The Count of Monte Cristo? The book about a man who was imprisoned for doing nothing wrong). Dante is a ghostwriter of academic papers who claims that he makes $66,000 a year writing students’ papers for them.
I believe him. I know that in some places students can actually afford these kinds of services, and the writers make out like bandits. Frankly, as a life-long academic, it gives me a twinge of regret—I could write some of these papers, have a great time doing it, and make some bucks. If only these pesky ethics didn’t keep getting in the way….
Dante claims that there are three major groups that seek out his services:
1. English-as-Second-Language students
2. Hopelessly deficient students
3. Lazy rich kids
Dante says, “I understand that I’m the bad guy in this, but I’m not the reason your students cheat.” And I have to admit that he’s right—yes, he’s the bad guy, and no, he’s not the reason that students cheat.
The rest of the article on the Chronicle is filled with comments (comments from educators, who usually write decently, so that’s better than most comment boxes). The commenters have several theories as to why someone like Dante thrives. Because, of course, there has to be someone to blame.
1. Students are just bad/spoiled/have a sense of entitlement/lazy/never held accountable for their actions.
2. Parents spoiled children and always let them think they would succeed no matter what.
3. Admissions counselors are admitting people who don’t have any business in college.
4. Professors inflate grades and pass people who should fail.
5. Higher education has become a business, about grades and tests, not about learning.
6. The high schools/middle schools/elementary schools aren’t doing their jobs.
7. Education is more concerned with self-esteem than with educating.
8. Professors don’t care enough to check into their students’ work.
9. Professors don’t care enough to get to know their students and to know what their work is like.
10. The administration pressures professors to make the school look better by passing students or inflating their grades.
As a teacher with an almost fanatical obsession with rooting out cheaters, I can tell you that each of these reasons is sometimes true, but none of them is ever the whole picture. If I can’t Google a suspicious text, I have no way of proving it’s stolen. I know I’ve had ghost-written papers turned in before—but what am I supposed to do? There’s no evidence. I’m stuck, resentful, and weary, but it gives me a new appreciation for students who turn in papers that are no better than decent, but who’ve at least done their own work.
So, what are your thoughts? I’d like to hear from both students and teachers: How is it that Ed Dante can make more than most college teachers make by helping our students cheat? Whose fault is it? Where does the ultimate responsibility for cheating lie—in the heart of the student, in the commitment of the teachers, in the priorities of the administration, or in a faceless system that has somehow failed everyone? Or, are the ghostwriters themselves truly the bad guys in all this?
More posts by Kathy Teel »
Author: KathyTeel
Kathy Teel is a freelance writer and editor, and a part time college professor. She lives in Missouri with her husband (another professor), their kids (a high schooler, middle schooler, and grade schooler), and three dogs. Check our her company's website at www.teelwriting.com.
2 Comments
I think there’s one more to add to your list: societal disregard. The student who turns in a ghostwritten work is ultimately to blame, but who, other than a tenacious instructor, would really chastise him/her? Excuses like “it was just a one-time thing” or “this isn’t a core class for me” or “I’ll never have to write something like this in the real world” are accepted by parents, students, and society as a whole for the most part.
Many hold to the mantra “it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission” and would rather take the fast, easy route rather than do the work right the first time. The whole concept of ethics is lost, and it’s sad.
As an ethics teacher, I can tell you that you’re right–everything is so subjective, and there’s often no sense of right and wrong. This is why many schools have started requiring ethics courses–our own little community college is seeking funding for one right now. After all, if someone cheats in school, what’s to keep them from cheating in business?