Two Belgian college students have been flunked for cheating on their written exams, getting zero points for two courses because they had reportedly been caught exchanging responses during the tests. Notably, the determining evidence used in the case came straight from Facebook conversations held by the two students and some of their friends.
Supervisors had noticed the two young men talking to each other during the exams and constantly eying them to stay on top of their location in the room, but had apparently failed to find any hard evidence of cheating.
Additionally, fellow students had reported the cheating by the two students anonymously and by e-mail, but this was still insufficient for the exam council to nail them for fraud. But then a couple of threads on Facebook held prior to and after the exams surfaced, proving that the cheating had been going on for quite a while and showing that the students were pretty proud of the fact they hadn’t been caught to date.
The council ultimately determined the conversations on the social network could be used as evidence, resulting in the flunking after the students confessed to cheating (which they later withdrew claiming that the conversations were completely unrelated – yeah right).
Noteworthy: there were complaints (presumably from the students themselves and/or their parents) that Facebook could not be used as evidence arguing it is a personal medium, but the council president wiped those claims off the table saying Facebook is ’semi-public’ and users have full control over what is shown and what is not.
What do you think: was it right for the council to decide Facebook conversations could be used as evidence in this case or not?
(Via T-zine, Getty image found on Telegraph.co.uk )
This is only the beginning
+1
of a beautiful friendship.
+1
If the cheating little rascals got caught then they got caught. How they got caught doesn’t really matter. I see it time and time again, people slagging off other people, or their companies on social networks and pleading innocence or fowl play when they get caught. Individuals have to take responsibility for their own actions, its as simple as that.
Agrees.
Good point well made.
+3
/2*3.14
“Additionally, fellow students had reported the cheating by the two students anonymously and by e-mail”
Personally I’d say that having people that snitch on you anonymously is much worse than the cheating itself.
That’s not a culture I’d like to be a part of in any type of school.
cue the Pacino monologue at the end of Scent of a Woman.
+1
+1
If they weren’t your friends then what’s the problem? Report the cheating brats and let them get their just desserts.
Facebook is semi-public, if they wanted to hide their actions, then take it to DMs, not public posts.
Nevermind the principle behind it, but if your college classmates are cheating (and presumably getting high marks), then that has a very real chance of negatively influencing your mark (if a bellcurve is used during grading).
Why the hell would you NOT snitch?
If you cheat, at least be smart enough to not get caught. These students were not only too dumb to study, but also too dumb to keep their mouths shut. If I were in charge, I’d give them a negative mark for that kind of dual stupidity.
Cheating is wrong. It’s as simple as that. How you get caught is pretty irrelevant.
“Personally I’d say that having people that snitch on you anonymously is much worse than the cheating itself.
That’s not a culture I’d like to be a part of in any type of school.”
The students cheated (and were stupid enough to put it on facebook). They deserve to get punished.
Students have a right to send in an anonymous tip pointing to the evidence. I see no problem with it.
wot so u want them not to get caught wots the point in exams wen they cheat they got caught simple as and tbh who ever snitched on them as u call it i agree wiv them the students deserve everything they got next time they think bout wot they r doing or maybe not but its justice served in my book
I believe this is absolutely legitimate. What makes Facebook any different from a public forum? Not much. Sure it has some extra features, but in the end conversations are threads just like on forums which have been used in cases.
I have Facebook, and when I signed up for it I acknowledged that some of my information may be made public. I also make that decision every time I post something.
I just find it strange how so many people are willing to accept new technologies as part of their every day lives, but aren’t willing to live with the consequences.
I would rather that these boys be caught and punished rather than let go b/c of a technicality that will in the future be laughable.
Only facebook ?? Wath about SMS ? Much more easy to acess…
WOW! How can they use this as an evidence? i think that was pretty lame of the school authorities~
I think they shouldn’t use facebook as an evidence, some hackers might even get students into trouble with this.
yeah right, videos cant even be used as evidence (at least here in germany that isnt allowed) but facebook conversations can ?
Any other student getting hold of someones password could make that stuff up to get them into trouble.
Lame.
Just because Germany doesn’t allow video to be used doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be used as evidence. Maybe Germany is wrong.
People who cheat on exams (or whatever) aren’t just cheating the school, they’re also cheating every one of their future employers, the other students within their cohort (potentially knocking up the bell curve) and the people who are paying for their education.
Also, if they’re not bright enough to actually conceal their cheating then they’re even stupider.
I remember when I was a kid, and I told my brother something. When my dad overheard, I still got my whooping. That was a private conversation too. Don’t bitch when you get caught bragging about cheating.
+1
Young and cocky. Shouldn’t have left a paper trail.
http://www.traderbots.com
Presumably, the conversations were public to non-friends or some of the ‘anonymous’ students sent links and copies of the conversation.
This is analogous to someone handing in a note being passed around class. So, it should be OK.
However, the same corrupted tree doctrine holds as for bad warrants. If they coerced the student or a friend to login, so they could see the discussion, then that’s wrong. But if they could see it on their own account or a student ‘friend’ that volunteered it, then it’s fine.
I’m finding it very hard to work up sympathy for these guys – if they cheated and they got caught then be man enough to take the punishment.
On the other hand those school authorities have probably messed up their future careers, no doubt denying Belgium of two fine, would-be politicians!
How can they prove it was actually the student that was the owner of the facebook account they are referring to and using as evidence?
Easy. The two students said something along the lines of “Hey, that’s not fair! Those are our personal Facebooks and are separate from school life!” and not “That’s not me.”
As a former undergraduate tutor and person looking to get into post-secondary education, these two should absolutely have been caught for this. Haul them in and say “explain this conversation”, and if they can’t, they fail. If they were hacked or coerced, I’d be happy to hear it, but I’ve found that calling people out on cheating usually makes people realize their stories aren’t as convincing as they thought.
“…there were complaints (presumably from the students themselves and/or their parents) that Facebook could not be used as evidence arguing it is a personal medium…”
Sounds like the parents are in denial…
So talking in the exam room is OK as long as you don’t boast about it afterwards on facebook? This school doesn’t just have a problem with a few kids cheating…
Exactly, the whole thing is a comedy from the students to the school.
I think there’s been some misrepresentation that the council ONLY used Facebook as the sole source of evidence against these two students. The article implies that the school was first alerted by teachers, then by anonymous students, then by facebook posts, and finally by the students own confession.
There is definitely the real question of privacy in other cases, but in this one I do not know how much emphasis the council placed on the facebook posts. If used as a collection of mounting evidence in conjunction with other factors then I see no reason why it should not be a valid source used to scrutinize the academic integrity of these students.
I am outraged. These were private conversations in a social setting. Regardless of the content of the conversations, whether they showed cheating or an intent to cheat, the point here is, illegally obtained evidence should not be allowed to be used.
Show us the proof that the evidence was illegally obtained, otherwise shut up.
Their facebook pages were locked up. The informations like threads were not open to the public. Their accounts were compromised.
Nothing can be “locked up” within your own school network unless you choose to make your profile private to everyone. Did you not read the article?
“Notably, the determining evidence used in the case came straight from Facebook conversations held by the two students and some of their friends.”
“But then a couple of threads on Facebook held prior to and after the exams surfaced, proving that the cheating had been going on for quite a while and showing that the students were pretty proud of the fact they hadn’t been caught to date. “
I first saw this problem in 2005, when college classmates were sending Chemistry exam questions from previous years over Facebook.
Aren’t those what we call pastpapers? I don’t see it as a problem.. It’s more of a guideline to what might come up this year,
This needs to be more specific:
“But then a couple of threads on Facebook…”
Define “thread.” Are we talking comments on a “I ACED THAT EXAM!” public status? Wall messages? Or private messages between the two friends? That makes all the difference. If they were public messages (ie wall postings or comments), then it’s public information and should be used as evidence. If it’s private messages between the two friends, then it’s private and should be dismissed in court.
I don’t think that using Facebook as an evidence is reasonable. But the fact that these students really cheated in their exam, the school administration must impose the right sanctions for the case.
I think these kids are getting what they deserve. I don’t care if it is Facebook or not that is used. They are stupid. Many others have commented on the fact that they are cheating their future employers as well as affecting their colleagues in the class. +1 to that!
If you do something wrong, keep your mouth shut and prepare for the consequences no matter what. As Benjamin Franklin said: ‘Three men can keep a secret if two are dead’ [paraphrased]. The more you share ’secrets’ [Facebook, SMS, whatever] the more likely you are to get caught.
It sounded like Facebook was the final straw of evidence used against them, not the only one. Wouldn’t that be like two men walking into a bar and discussing a crime quietly at one end, only to have the bartender called to testify against them for what he heard them say? These two men [in the allegory] were having a ‘private’ conversation, but others heard it. Don’t you think most courts would use the bartenders’ testimony?
Oh, and Germany’s unwillingness to use video testimony is interesting, but only relevant to Germany. After reading a story regarding how it isn’t illegal to have sex while driving in Germany I am not sure if I am shocked at the bad idea of people ‘getting it on’ on the Autobahn or if I want to make a trip there with my wife. Some of our countries have interesting peculiarities in what is legal versus illegal.
A smart kid who cheats would cheat and then never talk about it again. It didn’t happen.
But then, they are smart, smart enough not to attempt cheating or to have to cheat in the first place.
I’d just like to point out that the boys never denied that they had the conversations on Facebook. Had they cried “foul” because there had been hacking involved, proof should have been required. They argued that their conversations should not have been used because they were private. They never argued that they were not statements that they made.
The Facebook posts just look like part of a body of evidence compiled against these bozos. If you’re dumb enough to brag about cheating, then you deserve to get caught, but it looks like the evidence was stacking against them, and then they bailed and admitted it.
I think many of you are confusing the law with the rules the college has laid down to govern its students. Not all the same standards apply between the two. Yes, the college should obey fundamental rights laid down by the government but they can be a bit more stringent when it comes to things such as evidence and what not. If an instructor overheard the private conversation between two students in the hall saying “thanks for the answers to the last four questions” it makes no difference whether that was overheard in the hall or posted on Facebook.
Next up at nine: A new, more efficient hybrid engine from Toyota that was designed by engineers using Twitter AND the damn engine twitters its efficiency statistics WHILE YOU DRIVE!
Harry “surprised it wasn’t Twitter that was wrangled into the story” Wang
Duh Duh!
All the social media monitoring vendors are going to be pitching to every school in the country when they get word of this!
Kids – if you are going to cheat, say nothing on social media about it. They are on to you…
Private or not private, people need to take accountability for their actions. These kids need to accept the failing grades, get their acts together – retake the class, absorb their life lesson, and become better people as a result.
Cheat on a test today, cheat on your girlfriend tomorrow. Ladies, don’t give it up to these types. Only give sexual favors to real men who study.
I don’t think it’s a question of being able to use facebook or not. I believe that it’s a question of if the evidence can be considered factual. The two guys can have a conversation about anything and that doesn’t make it true. However, the school has their own ways of doing things…
Fully agree with sky.
these kids are just stupid, if u have other students saying that ur cheating and everyone suspects it then u must suck at it. they deserve what happened and why in gods name would anyone brag about it online where others can see
I really can’t believe that out there in the big wide world there are people condoning cheating. One comment I saw said they are possibly denying Belgium 2 possible would-be politicians. OMG…part of the problems starts with dishonest politicians who DIDN’T get caught cheating. Then or now. Once you post anything anywhere on the World Wide Web it is available for anyone to read. Post a less than great picture of someone in a less than great position…someone WILL find it. Maybe the students need to be completely kicked out instead of just taking zero’s for the classes. They need to start now taking responsibility for the things they do instead of trying to cover up and hopeing to get away with it. Who knows, with what other politicians have done in the past, cheating on a school test and trying to cover it up is small potatoes.
Two cases of what social media can be used for, cheating on exams and catching the cheats!
The article states “two young men”. This is false.
follow-up interview with one of the girls : http://www.stan...ikelId=S12E5KIP (Dutch)
Claims to individual freedom are largely irrelevant in today’s age of social networking anyway. There is a line to be drawn between breaking the rules and keeping your social networking private anyway and they broke it!