Don’t Abuse Your Class GroupMe

By Allison Johnson
Blog Content Contributor

Many people begin the semester emailing GroupMe invites to the entire class. “Let’s have a way of communication to exchange notes,” said the GroupMe owner. Not a bad idea. After all, if we miss class we all know the professor is going to tell us to get notes from a classmate.

Whether it’s sharing notes or forming study groups, GroupMe can be very useful. Although, it is now apparent that students are abusing the app and professors are catching on. I’m not exactly sure how, but it could possibly be that the invite links are posted on TRACS and are public. The professor can easily click the link to join, unless it’s a closed group.

In GroupMe threads, students may abuse the thread by asking for answers to quizzes and online assignments – I have even heard of students using it in the middle of class to ask for test answers. It may be tempting to join, but please be careful, or just don’t contribute to the cheating. I’ve already done my fair share of warning my friends, plus writing this, so if you ever get caught up in this situation, that’s on you.

Be careful this semester getting GroupMe Invites. A major issue many professors are catching onto is attendance codes. Many will send the “code of the day” out to the group for others to sign in and attempt to seem present. These professors have master’s, doctorate’s and some are even lawyers y’all. Eventually, they’re going to catch on when there’s 100% signed in for attendance and only 30 filled seats.

“What’s the point of it if we can’t cheat?” Talk to your classmates about concepts discussed in class, sharing notes, and organize study groups. A major bonus for me, you don’t have to give your number out to everyone in a study group. I hate giving my number to random classmates because in my case, some people abuse having it. I’ve even made friends through study groups, so it’s worth it!

You’ve been warned. Professors aren’t messing around. You might think you’re in the clear and a week after finals your professor will be emailing you to go speak to the dean about academic dishonesty. It’s not worth it, Bobcats.

Featured image by Asia Daggs.