Subscribe"Jim Kenyon's son Nicholas is one of the accused.Translation: "Other kids did it, so why should my son take the blame and punishment for stealing and cheating? Is it just because he got caught?
In a statement to the local paper in which he writes a column, Jim Kenyon urged officials to look at the big picture.
Kenyon: It's become clear to me in recent weeks that cheating is widespread in Hanover High's high-pressured academic culture. The problem, I don't think, can be solved by attempting to saddle 10 kids with criminal records for the rest of their lives.
Kenyon's argument raised some eyebrows.
Letters to the editor criticized him for not accepting responsibility for his son's actions."*
“…the most interesting part of this is that, naturally, some of the kids are children of folks we know. I will resist any urge to engage in schadenfreude, for the usual ‘there but for the grace of God…’ reason. However…one of the poor kids is the son of Jim Kenyon, a notorious columnist for the Valley News. This is the guy who never misses a chance to tear into Dartmouth and generally side with the forces of bleeding hearts and evil. His column is one I never miss, and much like Paul Krugman’s, it never ceases to raise my ire. The last one he wrote got me upset because he criticized our local food co-op for having a 60-year old woman arrested for shoplifting (she was later acquitted by the judge). The co-op should have shown mercy on a nice old lady, Kenyon said; my reading was that he has one kind of justice for people he knows and likes and another kind of justice for outsiders and ‘ne-er do wells’. Nothing like a little discrimination, eh?
Perhaps Mr. Kenyon knew when he wrote that column that his son was being investigated for his own form of shoplifting?
The Valley News had some quotes from Jim Kenyon regarding the incident and his son:
He said Hanover High School’s ‘high pressured academic culture’ leads to widespread cheating.
‘The entire community must be willing to take a hard look at how it might have unwittingly contributed to this problem and work together to find solutions.’
Kenyon said the school’s cheating problems ‘do not begin or end with the final exams now in question.’
Give me a break, please! So we are to sacrifice our academic ambitions because nine kids can’t resist the pressure to steal exams? And this is not mainly the problem of the kids and their families, but of the entire community? Yes, society is to blame, competition is evil, we are not responsible for our own actions, we all have to work together…blah blah blah.”
"'Imagine what it would feel like—or think back to what it felt like—when your body and mind are telling you you're an adult while the adults around you keep insisting you're a child.' An interview with psychologist Robert Epstein, who argues that American teens are far more intelligent, capable, and moral than we give them credit for. His new book, The Case Against Adolescence, suggests that infantilization of teens leads to psychological problems. See also Epstein's article 'The Myth of the Teen Brain' [PDF] from Scientific American Mind."
“…The prospect of jail and a promising future derailed is frightening. But it is also scary to hear a parent equate an allegation of breaking and entering into a school for the purpose of stealing exams as ‘one little mistake.’ This is, at minimum, a very big mistake.
Today, cheating is routinely dismissed as no big deal. A stadium filled with New England Patriots fans sent that clear message to Coach Bill Belichick after he was fined $500,000 for illegally filming the signals of New York Jets coaches in the season opener.
‘Do whatever it takes to win’ is the accepted mantra in politics, business, and sports. Not surprisingly, that attitude spills down into high school.
….What happened at Hanover High School went beyond lying or cheating. Students allegedly entered the school building one evening after school was out. While some stood guard, others entered a classroom and used stolen keys to break into a teacher's filing cabinet and steal tests.
Breaking and entering is a crime, not just a mistake. It is fair to treat all alleged perpetrators equally, by turning the matter over to police. Participation at any level, as lookout or thief, should make a parent very angry - at the child who chose that path.
These students have the right to a presumption of innocence and due process. But parents who worry that criminal prosecution hinders college admissions and future career opportunities seem to be missing the major concerns raised by this incident.
Why did these students decide the break-in was worth the risk?
What drove their children to conclude that success via stealing and cheating is more important than basic honesty?”
"'This was not a crime of opportunity. This was premeditated. There were some plans that were tried and then retried. They made some serious attempts. We do not investigate things like cheating, but this was breaking and entering,' said Hanover Police Chief Nicholas Giaconne.
Some of the students could have been charged with felonies, given the nature of the offenses, which included cutting a window screen and stealing keys, he said.
...[School Superintendent Wayne] Gersen rejects the notion that Hanover High School's standards of excellence act as some sort of incubator for unethical behavior. 'Yes, we have a lot of energetic, enthusiastic, high-achieving kids. Seventy percent are involved in athletic teams, and 90 percent go on to college. But I have to say I don't think the pressure is any different now than when I graduated in 1965.'
Gersen said that cheating incidents are usually handled internally among parents, school officials and teachers, but that this situation was very different. 'We called the police because our building was broken into. In the same way any homeowner would call.'"
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posted by DU at 11:17 AM on September 19, 2007