Trustworthy?


I didn’t really go far in the Scouting program, but I do remember the Scout law. I often used it in the classroom. At some point during the school year I would give the classes a test with an answer sheet to fill in the blanks a,b,c,d, for the answers.
When it was time to start the class, I would tell them to clear their desks and get out a pen or pencil. I would then pass out the test and an answer sheet. I would give them time to finish the test and then I would collect them all. After school I would go down to the workroom and make a copy of each answer sheet. The next day I would pass them back to the students and have them correct their own tests. I would read out the correct answers while they checked their sheets.
I would then look at the copies I had made and staple them to the original answer sheets. The next day I would pass both sheets back to the class. I asked them to look over the two answer sheets. I wanted them to see for themselves if any answers had been changed. I told them that the purpose of the test was for them to think about what kind of person they wanted to be.
Those who had not changed answers got full credit for the test, a full ten points. If they had changed answers, they got zero. Ten points was not much; it would not change anyone’s final grade, but I wanted them to take a look at how they might want to live their lives. Some were worried that I might fail them or worse yet tell their parents, but that was not the purpose of the test.
Years later Joy and I were at a baby blessing in another ward, and after the meeting, a man came down from the stand and came over to us. He wanted to know if I remembered him. I said that I did, and then he asked if I remembered that he was one of the students that had cheated. I told him that I didn’t remember any of the students that had cheated on the test. He said that it made a difference to him, and he had always remembered the lesson. He was one of the bishopric in that ward. I’m glad that it had an effect on him and hope that the test had helped other students over the years. I’m not sure how I would have done under the same circumstances.



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