THE “HART” OF THE PROBLEM

The Opinion and Advice Column that Matters!

This month’s topic: CHEATERS (on anything)

Our first writer writes from the “Hart” of Milwaukee City High:

My Hart of the Problem is…

It’s been three months since me and my boyfriend, “Rick”, have been dating. At first things were great and he always found time to hang out with me—doting on me, even—with flowers and movie tickets and the ability to do things for me whenever I needed him. In a word—dependable and adorable. But recently he’s become distant and secretive and when I ask him what he’s been up to in a playful tone he gets cold and defiant and asks me scornfully, “What are you—my mother?” I’m not sure what’s going on, but I think he might be cheating on me. His friends (who don’t particularly like me and it’s mutual) taunted that he was “finally noticing” how “boring” I was. Tell me what’s up!!

Concerned in Milwaukee; J.H., 16

Concerned:

Chill. The only way you can be sure is if you ask him, and obviously that isn’t the most tactful way to get to your man. Maybe he’s been dealing with some family problems or other outside issues right now. And his friends’ jibes may just be their way of getting to you. And even if he is “bored” with you, it doesn’t necessarily mean there’s another woman involved! You have to figure out why you feel that way—is there some sort of trigger that left you feeling unsure and incomplete?

Hope that helps!

Now we’ll have some questions and responses (from our guest “Hart”-brokers) from last week!

Original issue:

My Hart of the Problem is…

There’s this guy in my class who always finds methods of cheating whenever we have tests! I’m not quite sure how he knows the answers, but he finds the most incredible methods of cheating! The other day I saw his hand and it looked like he had about 5 colored dots lining his palm and I realized it was his method of getting the answers! And the thing is, I wanna get him caught! But how’m I gonna prove it? He’s a teacher’s pet (and I’m not exactly popular—did I mention he was like Jock/Brainiac extraordinaire??) and everybody loves him. I don’t wanna be labeled as a tattletale but I hate it that he always gets higher scores on tests than me and I study!

Help!

Palmer; H.S., 14

Two opposing views said:

Hey Palmer-

Dude, seriously. That is whack. You shouldn’t care, though—just do whatever ‘cause like he’s gonna get caught some day, ya know? Just let him be. It’ll bother some people, but ya know… one time I was running track and some dude took a break and like I totally lost to him even though he like totally wasn’t even runnin’, but when he started runnin’ again, like he beat me, ya know? So ya gotta just take it like sometimes people’ll beat ya and it won’t be fair, but life’s short and what goes around comes, ya get?

Junior Spademan, Bronx, 15

Palmer,

This is a really serious problem and I think you should tell an adult authority figure you trust—if the teacher doesn’t work, tell your counselor or school psychiatrist—someone needs to know! Definitely! Cheating is most possibly the worst offense, I think, that can occur upon school grounds and should be dealt with accordingly. If you must, tell the principal (although I can see where you could go wrong, as this seems to be a beloved campus figure—possibly the school president or some hero of the major sports team?). Leave it to s/he to figure it out. Or even right a letter/call the superintendent or march up to the office—this needs to be fixed! I am personally appalled that anyone could get away with it and why more people aren’t vexed by this situation. Do the right thing, Palmer, and we all know who gets their just desserts in the end.

Maggie Eunethan, Trenton, 17

If you’d like to leave comments or reply to someone, please do so and we can help you then! Well, today’s column is shorter than normal, but expect tomorrow’s to be full! (I still have to answer a lot and homework’s bogging me down!) Write your opinion on the responses from Junior and Maggie and let us know what you think! Until tomorrow, your HART’s desire is only a click away!