AIBU to despair about DofE cheating

[WhatTheHeckIsIt]

Someone I know very well is the teacher who leads the Duke of Edinburgh at a school. Their teen is going to Buckingham Palace to receive their gold award. There is no way on this planet the teen has completed any of the activities - it's a stitch up.

It's made me feel really sad.

a) I expected more of this person
b) I expected more of their child
c) how could you let your child accept an award amongst people who have worked really hard to achieve it
d) it devalues everyone else's award
e) it's just shit

Rant over - but there's nothing I can do is there?

I did the gold award and it had to be heavily adapted for me because of a disability. Plenty of people probably thought I’d cheated but I don’t care because I was very proud of what I achieved.

Does it matter, it’s not really that important, even unis rnt interested if u have one.

We used to run a mini bake off at the school basically you cook something at home and send in pictures then if you pass that stage you compete publicly against the other students and judged etc one child gave a meticulous cake all photographed beautiful etc went to pieces on the day his mum was a TA kept stepping in to "help out" clearly this child didn't know what they were doing his mum? Runs a cake business on the side of her TA work it was obvious she did the original entry he didn't win she was furious but he came second (or third) I wouldn't have let him come top three and get a prize at all personally the following year contained a new rule no staff children 😉

I think you have to think about why you are doing DofE. If you are doing for the experience and learning then cheating chests you out of that.

If you are doing it for the certificate, for Uni, cheating is a bit pointless as Universities generally aren't that interested nowadays

Exactly this.

Don’t exhaust yourself trying to get justice over this. The truth will hopefully come out in the end.

Its frustrating 😞

Sadly I think there is cheating. I was asked to assess someone who clearly hadn't put in the work. I declined but they found someone else to sign off....

😂😂😂 How on earth can you manage to fit jealousy into a post about someone being disappointed about someone they know being dishonest?

I run a voluntary organisation. I would say somewhere between 40 and 60% of the volunteers these days expect me to 'sign the form' the first day and not actually expect any voluntary help! One parent verbally abused me for not paying her son!

That’s an amazing achievement & you should be very proud!

That’s breathtaking! I’m seething on your behalf

@WhatTheHeckIsIt you can’t possibly know this for sure. It’s none of your business and a shame that you’re so negative about a family you’re supposedly friends with.

Perhaps I'm odd, but for me, this would have been nothing more than a fleeting thought. I wouldn't care at all.

This is really hard to read. Mine did every single hour of all the activities - in fact went well beyond the timeframes for volunteering- 4 whole years in total. Not sure there’s anything much you can do though. Probably similar to folks who pretend to be Christian and stop attending church as soon as their DC get into the church school.

I did voluntary work for about 30+ years, didn’t get any award, wasn’t looking for one, I did it because I cared. I did benefit in the end because of the life experiences it gave me. Life isn’t about awards it’s about living it.
I wouldn’t worry about it.

Of all the things to get wound up about! Are you just jealous they are going to wherever it's now held (is it even Buck Palace any more?)

It's not particularly hard to do unnoticed (apart from the expedition... and what do you think they did? Drove it?)

Volunteering can be at school in school hours.

Can they drive? There's the skill.

And the sport can be doing pretty much anything these days! They don't have to play for a team every Saturday.

And voila ... a child can achieve their Gold without you, an outsider, noticing. Doesn't mean they didn't do it. It took a long time to achieve but under the radar.

I'm glad it's not about Edward... I really like him!

Honestly, the fact that you can’t know for a fact that this child hasn’t done it makes me think YABU.

Unless you live with the child then how could you know what they do every day.

I’m also sure there must be some sort of evidence required.

I think it's perfectly natural to feel disappointed in some people, OP, and especially when you're aware of how much effort other people have put in. You're right in that it devalues it.

Shame on them.

My dc do a lot of extra curricular things and volunteer but I don't really mention to my friends to be honest. Are you absolutely sure they are cheats?

Are you absolutely sure they cheated? My DC just finished their gold - skill was driving, volunteering was online conservation, physical was attending the gym. To the outsider, Dc looked just like any other teenager! In reality, they had to provide evidence of activity in the form of photos and a written report by an assessor.

That’s not actually true. I’m a university admissions tutor at a very prestigious university, and I actually very much like DoE.

Think of it as someone cheating to get the equivalent of an A* at A level and see whether you still want to make an anonymous complaint.

That’s not actually true. I’m a university admissions tutor at a very prestigious university, and I actually very much like DoE.

Most universities don't care. If you interview someone claiming to have done D of E I expect you could trip them up and find out that they were being economical with the truth.

Please be joking...

Why do you care though? Even if you’re right (I doubt it), how does it affect your life in any way?

It doesn’t matter. There isn’t a finite amount of awards, everyone can have one. Fwiw my son did everything for Gold except submit the fucking paperwork on time. So he has all the resilience, growth etc, and no certificate. But the process is more beneficial than the prize.