The IB honor code should be able to provide some leniency to students. Creating an honest and fair environment is crucial to the success of not only the school but also the IB program. This is why it is necessary to have an honor code, but the one we currently have does not consider certain circumstances students may be put in.

When I first heard the code, I didn’t know what to think. It is great that students are held to a higher standard not only academically, but also socially. The IB program is international, and these standards apply to everyone in it. But the honor code can be overly harsh, and a slap in the face to a student who worked hard for their academic success, only to be thrown away at the slightest misstep.

The honor code was based on statistical logic and reasoning. While that may have worked for other workplace environments, it is inaccurate to assume this would work with high school, with teenagers for whom friendship is one of the most important things.

Students will get penalized if they don’t come forward if they think or saw someone cheating—even if it is their friend.

“The expectation that they will do that [tell on another student], and risk bullying or anything else, I think that’s not fair.,” Caroline Hand, freshman Inquiry and English teacher, said.

For students, it’s a lose-lose situation. If they don’t tell, they might get penalized, but if they do tell, there are other social aspects that they would have to endure. That’s just not something to expect out of students.

Another problem is falsely being accused of cheating. Setting guidelines is important, but if a student is falsely accused of cheating, they might lose their chance at the IB diploma. This is simply unfair and can be used in the wrong way. Especially because the IB course isn’t known for being easy, all the hours of hard work can be disregarded for an allegation.

Students shouldn’t have to be in constant fear of going up in front of a council because other people were pointing fingers—even though nothing happened.

Circumstances such as these are proof that the honor code has a flaw, which needs to be fixed. It has been proven that having an honor code is beneficial for students, as they get to know the exact lines and expectations of the school and program. But having a malfunctional honor code can be detrimental to students, which is not the mission of IB.