Honor Code

In keeping with the philosophy and mission of BAS, students are expected to respect God, themselves, others and property at all times. Being respectful does not include cheating, harassing, lying, stealing, or any other dishonorable acts. The BAS Honor Code is an extension of BAS behavior guidelines. Depending on the nature and severity of the Honor Code violation it may be handled by the supervising teacher. If the violation is not handled by the supervising teacher, it will be referred to the Discipline Committee or administration.

Consequences for Honor Code violations may include limited loss of privileges (recess, break, eating with friends, etc.), community service hours, removal from student leadership roles (student council, eighth grade officers, NJHS), academic consequences, and/or suspension. Students in grades 5-8 will be given an explanation of the Honor Code and its meaning. After the explanation each student will be given a copy of the Honor Code to take home to discuss with his/her parents. All students will be expected to sign a statement of commitment and parents will be expected to sign a statement of acknowledgement.

Student Statement of Commitment:

Because I want to honor God and care about others, I commit to being respectful. I will not participate in cheating, harassing, lying, stealing, or any other dishonorable acts.

Parent Statement of Acknowledgement:

I have read and discussed with my child the BAS Honor Code and the explanations of each behavior area: cheating, harassing, lying and stealing.

Cheating Definition: to use or attempt to use unauthorized help in any work submitted or to give unauthorized help to others. At BAS it is expected that student work is a product of the student who is submitting it. All written work needs to reflect the students’ ideas and vocabulary. It is hoped that the following list of permissible and non-permissible types of help will provide a better understanding of this issue. These items are meant to serve as examples, but not exhaustive lists.

Permissible Help from Friends or Family:

• Telling another student what the assignment is

• Explaining directions given by the teacher

• Sharing notes

• Studying together orally

• Showing another student how to do a math problem by doing a similar problem

• Pointing out punctuation, spelling or grammatical errors

• Brainstorming ideas for a creative writing assignment

Non-Permissible Help from Friends or Family:

• Giving another student your answer to a specific question

• Letting another student copy your answers

• Using graded work from a previous year

• Using a calculator when not allowed

• Glancing at someone else’s quiz or test or allowing someone to glance at yours

• Discussing any part to a quiz or test before everyone has completed it

• Working with another student on an assignment without permission from the teacher

• Comparing answers before the work has been submitted

Harassing Definition: to participate in acts of verbal, written or physical abuse (i.e. verbal put downs, derogatory comments, racial or ethnic slurs, etc.) Today’s media portrays many acts of harassment as humorous, fun and commonplace, giving our students the impression that it is acceptable and normal to treat others in this manner. It is the goal of the BAS Honor Code to raise the standard of behavior and eliminate the careless, hurtful attitude often shown to others. Generally students are careful to choose this type of behavior only when adults are not present. In an effort to create an environment where all feel accepted and comfortable, we expect students to refrain from harassing behaviors and to speak up if they see or hear this type of behavior.

Lying Definition: to make a false statement or to give a false impression.

Below are some common examples:

• Giving false excuses for not being in expected place

• Forging parent signatures

• Receiving permission to go one place and going to another

• Giving false excuses for being late or absent

• Pretending not to know information that is known

• Leaving out information to protect oneself or others

Stealing Definition: to take without permission. Casualness of attitude toward the property of others does not fall into the value of respect.

Some common examples of stealing in the school setting are as follows:

• Taking something without the permission of the owner, even if the intent is to return it unharmed

• “Borrowing” something without the permission of the owner, even if the intent is to return it unharmed

• Finding something and taking it as your own because no one is there to claim it

• Taking something from Lost and Found that is not yours

• Hiding something that belongs to another person, even when it is intended as a joke

• Plagiarism – using someone’s ideas or words and not giving credit to the source.