Sometimes punishment is necessary for there to be a real understanding of wrong doing.

A month ago, it was brought to the attention of a Spanish 12 teacher that some students were paying others to do their ponencias, an essay-like writing piece. Because of this incident, everyone's grade for that assignment was cancelled.

“It is unfair that I worked really hard on my ponencia and because of a few people, every- one was punished,” explained Sofía Hinojosa, 12th-grade student.

This is considered a level 3 infraction, and according to the academic integrity policy, selling or buying an assignment has a consequence of:

- Losing early dismissal privileges for the semester.
- The student will be prohibited from being eligible for any awards that year.

- Teachers will not write recommendation letters to those who have been given an AD (academic dishonesty).
- Every college that person is applying to will be informed about his/her behavior in previous years.

The incident was reported to the office three weeks ago, but no action has yet been taken.

Ms. Del Bosque, a member of the Integrity Council, expressed her concern for this issue. “I would like to be supported by teachers (following AD procedures) and administration (applying AD consequences) so that our job actually means something, and our goal, for all ASFM community members to live with integrity at all times and follow the school’s values, is met,” she said.