Honesty and Integrity

After being a student of the law school for over a year, i find the serious lack of integrity in most of the people i have met. I have seniors and batchmates telling me "its all about giving the teachers what they want". In this competitive drive and spirit, we as students forget the few principles we ought to hold dear, namely honesty and integrity.

I have seen people often change their view on a topic or even their way of life depending on the teacher or situation. Most people find it scnadalous for a student to argue with a teacher or even put forward his point in any way which lacked the sugar coated tact. I do not know if it is just here that there is this complete lack of integrity, but i have noticed it a lot in here. Most people i know here would lie, manipulate and change their views and their personality just to achieve an end. I know this by experience, seeing people lying to my face. Some people take pride in such dishonesty while others feel it is an art to be fake.

I fail to understand how there can be such a lack of self identity just to achieve the end. The problem arises not merely in academics, but in every sphere of life. I have witnessed, first hand, manipulation and lies and in the most trivial of things. There have been instances where perfectly healthy students decide to claim they have typhoid and head back home missing an exam just in order to make sure they do not have a repeat and are hence still in the running for a gold medal. It might be stupid to sit and write the end term after a bad mid term but that does not mean one can lie to make sure that they can remain in the running for a gold medal. It amazes me day in and day out how such people live with themselves. It is lies, deceit and manipulation which form the vein of any activity here.

For instance, a student would look to speak in class even though he does not really have a point to make and dance all around the point without really making the point, which in itself would have taken hardly one tenth the time. Most teachers do not see through this and hence the students are able to use such means to impress the teachers. I feel that this means of garnering marks by using the teachers' biases is not something a person should do. I have heard of instances forst hand where teachers are to be impressed by behaving in a particular way in their classes. This not only shows the students in bad light, but the teachers who are just as easily fooled. I do not claim that the teahcers should not have biases. I only feel they should not be conscious. This seriously affects the merit of students studying in the institution.

This startling revelation is seen when a teacher is not at all vindictive and corrects on merit. The students who did well in the previous papers tend to suffer a lot more in these courses. To what length would students go to achieve their ends? I refer only to academics here. As far as the "extra curricular" activities, each person is unique. In my experience in law school , i have found that honesty is a rare virtue.

Getting back to the lack of integrity in students, this was pointed out by both our Constitutional LAw and the History professors. People write what they think the teacher wants to read. I was once told taht what i write in my answer papers and projects which put forward my view was "suicidal". Maybe in law school it is. But this does not mean one can compromise on one's integrity so easily and take to lying. Hoe people can lie and go to sleep liking themselves is something i will never understand. I guess there is always a time when a person is bound to get caught in a web of her own lies. I do not wish it to happen, but i feel law school and the world in general could use more integrity and honesty.