China's New Anti-Cheating Strategy: Cheating May Kill You!

from the you'll-poke-your-eye-out! dept

Tue, Jun 20th 2006 10:53am — Mike Masnick

Earlier this month, China announced it was going to scramble mobile phone signals around the testing centers where the big annual college exams are held. However, it appears that plenty of kids only took that to be a challenge, rather than an obstacle, and put together all sorts of sneaky new cheating devices. Of course, reading through the different devices that kids were caught with makes you wonder if, perhaps, the students' time might have been better spent, you know, studying for the exam. Also, you have to wonder how accurate the article is, since every case of caught cheaters mentions how the cheating devices injured the student. There's the "microearphone" that perforated the ear drum, another microearphone that got stuck and needed surgery to remove and (my personal favorite) the "interphone hidden in a student's abdomen [that] caused bleeding when it exploded." I'm not quite sure what an interphone is, or why you would hide one in your abdomen (or, frankly, how it would explode -- perhaps the exams were taken near the Great Wall), but it's not clear the Chinese authorities actually care about reality here. They're just trying to scare kids away from cheating.

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18 Comments

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dorpus, 20 Jun 2006 @ 11:03am

Then wear coconut helmets
A university in Vietnam has developed a helmet made out of a coconut. If they don't mind looking like some banana republic caricature, anyway.
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seth, 20 Jun 2006 @ 11:14am

wow.
that's hardcore cheating.
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ZA, 20 Jun 2006 @ 11:21am

Time Better Spent
makes you wonder if, perhaps, the students' time might have been better spent, you know, studying for the exam

Do you think?
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ET, 20 Jun 2006 @ 11:38am

Give them an A
Gotta give them an A for effort and ingenuity, though...
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WTF, 20 Jun 2006 @ 11:39am

Interesting
Its either that exam is impossible or the chinese are retarded...and people say they can defeat us in a war.
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- Bulldog, 20 Jun 2006 @ 12:22pm
  
  Re: Interesting
  What a tough guy. I guess you like to kill people for fun because they are stupid. What about go kill the retarded ones around you in the US first?
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  - WTF, 20 Jun 2006 @ 12:44pm
    
    Re: Re: Interesting
    WEll Bulldog... I do not think of killing people just because they are stupid and plus im just making a statement that if USA went to war with CHINA, USA would smash CHINA like a cigarette bud. USA has big balls.
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    - Anonymous, 20 Jun 2006 @ 1:20pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: Interesting
      .....
      "USA has big balls."
      
      China has USA by the balls. What happens when CHINA stops funding the AMERICAN debt?
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      - Anonymous Coward, 20 Jun 2006 @ 1:34pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Interesting
        Then all that money drops out of chinese economy and they suffer as well... Why do you think they're still funding us?
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Joel, 20 Jun 2006 @ 11:40am

I have a friends who spent a couple years teaching English in China. It's a different culture there, and cheating is viewed differently. Cheating is not really 'against the rules.' They see it that in the business world you will have these resources available, so why not in the academic world as well? It's more seen as a just one more learning challenge or obstacle to overcome. Just don't bring shame on your family by being caught. Of course, they were teachers so they saw the worst of it.
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- DWDI, 20 Jun 2006 @ 1:01pm
  
  Re: Cheating in asia
  It is also funny that in asia you cheat to get the higest score but many in the US cheat simply to pass then there relative can get them a job. stupid amerimexicans all hail the US of Mexico ha ha
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Shawn, 20 Jun 2006 @ 12:31pm

Thats Funny
Its funny on how in the US every one is against the fact of cheating and there its seen as another obstacle to overcome. But to as far as inserting a phone into you abdomen is just per insanity. I know that in high school when everyone was having the final exams we would converse with one another about the exam depending on who took first and how it was so that way the others knew what to expect. Now whether or not that is considered cheating is left up to every one else's opinion. I just see it as an extra helping hand : )
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- Anonymous, 20 Jun 2006 @ 12:46pm
  
  Re: Thats Funny
  With "social promotions" in the U.S. you don't need to copy : D
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808813, 20 Jun 2006 @ 12:43pm

lol
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Ben McNelly, 20 Jun 2006 @ 1:47pm

yep...
One big happy family ;-)

Its nice how now thanks to the internet we get to see how other countries deal with socail issues. We sometimes could learn a thing or two, and somtimes we what NOT to do.

it also helps keep some things in check, infact thats why we dont have students being run over with tanks for cheating.. OK, that was maybe an exageration, but then again...
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rijit (profile), 20 Jun 2006 @ 1:58pm

Oi, embargo...
If the Chinease really wanted to hurt the US all they would have to do is stop shipping the goods they make for US companies. Our electronics industry costs would sky-rocket forcing lay-offs. The US would be forced to supply all the unemployed with unemployment checks and the economy would stagger.
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Hautedawg, 20 Jun 2006 @ 4:51pm

Had to be said...
This means cheating is harder than...are you ready?

CHINESE ALGEBRA!

Damn, I crack myself up. Which is good, cuz no one else is laughing.
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Valentine, 22 Oct 2006 @ 6:55am

With " social promotions" in the U.S you don't need to copy.
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