University of Virginia Library

Oft-cited Problems

I want to turn now, as I said I
would, to what are some of the
oft-cited problems with the system.
Let me begin with one that initially
bothered me the most and is
expressed in the following way:
"Doesn't an honor system, this
Honor System to be precise, require
me to become some sort of
tattletale, informer, or spy, if you
will, on my fellow students?" My
answer to that is that honor
systems at some schools do impose
such roles on the students, and for
that reason I would not support
them. This system, however, does
not rely on your running and telling
somebody, "I saw Jeanie cheat in
class."

It relies instead on your
confronting that individual directly
yourself. You are not telling on him
in that sense, you are confronting
him just as you would if you were a
lawyer and you saw people in the
legal community committing
dishonest acts. This element of
confrontation obviates the
problem of becoming a squealer or
a tattletale. Moreover, I think that
once you see the system in
operation you will realize that
people do not take these
confrontations lightly, and that
they are unlikely to stem from
trivial matters.

Now a second problem related
to and, indeed, a part of this first
one is expressed the sentiment that
"I am going to be honorable, and I
don't really care if others are not."
The problem with this attitude is
that in order to protect itself a
community must, and usually will,
set some standards for permissible
conduct. It is then the
responsibility of that community to
make sure that those standards are
upheld, not only for the protection
of the community itself, but also to
protect those who relied on the
integrity of that group.