McAfee Study Shows Kids Cheating With Mobiles @McAfeeConsumer

There is still, of course, a lot of summer left. Okay, not a lot, but there's enough of summer left. But school is just right around the corner, and increasingly, as we have more technology in the classroom, there are more and more creative ways to cheat. So we're gonna tell parents what you should be on the lookout for when it comes to your kids and making sure that they're walking the straight and narrow.

Yeah, plagiarism online, smartphones. You can't just leave the textbook in the bathroom anymore and take a break during the test.

You know what it used to be?

No, not that I would know anything about that. That's how we caught people in my class. When I was student teacher When I was teaching, it was those calculators.

They would write things on the calculator. Yeah, in the calculator.

And we'd have to clear the memory before the test.

That is horrible.

You were that type of teacher, huh?

Absolutely. I'd like to think I knew some of those cheating methods, but now it's like, pshh, I have a calculator.

Those physics formulas were not easy to remember. No, no.

Here's Lily.

All right, Brett, thanks so much. Cheating at school is a bigger problem than you might think. There's a recent survey that shows more than half of all 13- to 23-year-olds admitted to looking up the answer to a test online, but only 17% of parents think that their kids have done so. How cheating has evolved through smartphones and smaller laptops is where most of the problem lies. Robert Siciliano is the identity theft expert and McAfee consultant who joins us this morning with ways for parents to stay in the know about ways that their kids could be tempted to cheat by using the web and other technology. Thanks for joining us this morning.

Good morning.

You know, first of all, the bottom line here is if you're cheating, you're not learning the information for yourself. So, and you also don't want to get in trouble. But the days of, you know, writing your answer on the hand are kind of over. I mean, there are all sorts of technological ways ways that kids are cheating. How has it evolved over the years?

It's evolved in a way in which, uh, the answers are right there at their fingertips via the web. Uh, you know, like you said, it used to be a little piece of paper you might have had in your hand or something you wrote in your hand, but just about the answer to any question can be answered via Googling it. Beyond that, a lot of the curriculum, uh, that is provided to schools today is via third parties. So the tests and the questions and answers are all canned, uh, and a lot of that information in its entirety is posted on the web as well. So kids are getting, you know, full, uh, answers to the, the, the questions and the answers online today, and, uh, parents are, um, unaware that this is happening.

So are you saying that the— there are places that kids can go ahead of time and study up on the full answers, or that they're actually doing it while they're sitting taking the test?

Both. Mm-hmm. So the answers are both, you know, at their fingertips while they're taking the test and available in its entirety online.

So how does a parent stop this? Because, I mean, certainly there's no folder on a smartphone that says "Answers to Friday's Test." How do you make sure that they're not cheating? Is it just a matter of dialogue, or is there a way that you can check up on your kids?

So certainly dialogue is important. Checking up on your kids is absolutely important. You know, it's similar to talking to them about smoking, you know, it's not good for you, it's gonna harm you in the long run, and it's just not acceptable. Now, I had a conversation yesterday with a 3rd grade teacher who said, you know, all of our kids have smartphones and how do we prevent them from using smartphones? Which is funny to me because, you know, we weren't allowed to chew gum in school.

Right, you couldn't wear a hat.

Nothing.

In the hallway.

But everybody can have their smartphone at their desk, which is really surprising to me that that's actually crept in. To schools and it's allowed to some degree. Mm-hmm. And I think, you know, from the administration top to the bottom, or, you know, from front lines up to the principals, it needs to be understood that this is happening and parents need to be aware of it and they need to put some systems in place to prevent it from going forward.

Let me ask you this. Now, in my home, you don't get any privacy until you actually leave and you get your own home and then you're entitled to whatever privacy you want. But there are parents who are concerned about jeopardizing the privacy of especially older teenagers. So is there a way to go about looking for this without crossing any lines there?

Yeah, in my home, until you leave, there is no privacy. Agreed. And those, you know, under 18, you are fully responsible for everything that they do. You're liable for everything they do. And if they're not getting their education because they're cheating, you're responsible for that as well. So the lines of privacy really can be crossed after the age of, you know, 17, 18 and beyond. So that being said, you know, you're fully responsible for them and they need to understand that, you know, privacy is really an illusion.

Yes.

And that your rules apply. But, you know, you gingerly talk about this with them. You know, they're gonna fight you back somewhat. They're gonna be somewhat rebellious about it. But in the long run, you know, it's good for them to know that this is bad and that, you know, it can affect their ability to gain employment and to make a productive living.

You know, there used to be a time where if you wrote a Shakespearean sonnet on your hand and then you forgot that you did it, it would show up right on your cheek. You're right, Robert, there are all sorts of ways that kids can cheat now. We have to be on the lookout for it. We appreciate you being here this morning. Robert Siciliano is our identity theft expert and McAfee consultant. Thanks for joining us. Thank you.