Reflection on Jim Cooper's "Helping"

Chapter Eight of Down on the Island, titled "Helping," illustrates a major factor in Puerto Rican upbringing in regards to early school life and its repercussions easily reflected in college students. The title of the chapter insinuates a deeper meaning to the mentioned word, perhaps a double-meaning. After reading more into the chapter, the title's purpose is exactly that. "Helping" refers to cheating performed by the students to and for other students during examinations. This is itself is the root of of all disagreement/misunderstanding amongst educators. What was cheating? What was considered just helping? 

When some students were questioned, one of them replied saying that because the other student is his friend, then there is no reason to not help him and let him see his test paper. After all, the goal is to help each other get good grades, right? Cooper then goes on to explain how Puerto Rican culture has played a major role in this way of thinking. Since early school age, children are taught to be cooperative. There is no competition, according to Cooper.

Personally, this "cultural background" really depends on your specific type of upbringing. I was never taught cooperation, aside from projects done in Teams, where you had to work together and help each other. This was fine, as teamwork is essential in all professional careers and a skill much desired and worked at by many. Before going to college, all my academic years were filled with very competitive situations and tense atmospheres in the classrooms as the students believed they had to be better than the one to him/her. I was like that. There was no helping aside from the ordinary cheating that occurs in every school, just regular cheating. More than likely it was because my school was an American institution that this sort of  "helping" was not re-einforced but only carried out in secrecy by some students who were not as competitive as others.

Jim Cooper did well in pointing out the problems and flaw in the education system regarding the teaching other English language, how it has affected the students , and in turn how student-background has affected the way the teacher-students relationships work.

Extremist anti-cheating technique: