Sunday, January 9, 2011

Would You Rather Have the A or the B?

Based on Dr. Phil's "Whatever It Takes" Episode on Friday, January 7, 2011.
          Would you rather get an A that you cheated for, or a B that you earned? This question is quite controversial and is stirring up a lot of chatter everywhere. If you caught the episode, you witnessed quite a bit, despite what you think. As Dr. Phil asked what was supposed to be his entire audience, he aimed all of his 'cheating questions' towards one or two Caucasian females sitting in the front row. Also, when he revealed clips of 'secret cheating tactics and techniques' all of the subjects were Caucasian as. Not surprisingly, his live subject(s) on stage were Caucasian as well. According to a poll/survey that Dr. Phil did, 64% of test takers cheat. While this may be hard to believe, think about who he surveyed. Was Dr. Phil's audience skewed? If so, his answers sure are as well. 
          Supposedly, cheating is something that is shunned upon, as we all learned this from adolescence. However, according to Dr. Phil's audience, it's quite 'in'. As Dr. Phil introduced a new cheating technique to his 'knowledgeable student' she said "..I've seen something like that done, but never actually done anything like that. That's really creative, I can't believe I've never thought of that! I need to use that one!" as she laughed.
          The saying "Times have changed" certainly rings true in instances like this. Cheating has always existed. However, as times progress, the willingness and shamelessness to cheat has certainly sky rocketed. We live in a country where winning is all that matters, at all costs. Today's generation is so desperate for moral and values that they're seeming doing the complete opposite. As seen on this episode, parents are now teaching their children to cheat! Disappointingly, it doesn't matter how you get there, as long as you do.
          From a totally different point of view and with respect to Dr. Phil's audience and subject(s) on this particular episode, why were they all Caucasian as a whole? Was he trying to make a point? Was he being biased? Was he showing favoritism for his own race? Was he saying that other races don't cheat? Was he not interested in what other races had to say? Does he care about other races' academic behaviors? Whatever the case may be, bias seems to ring the loudest. It doesn't seem fair to other races that only Caucasians were there to speak out on their academic habits. And it more than certainly doesn't seem fair that the only people there to represent what was supposed to be America's demographic were Caucasian people. If other races were prominent that day in the audience to take part in the survey, the results would have been different. ≈≠

*As always, feel free to comment and share your thoughts on this is well! I love diversity (and a great debate)!*

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