You have a child, aged 12, who is sitting for the UPSR exam. There is a leak in the examination papers. Or perhaps, there wasn't a leak but you are trying to get it "leaked". We have seen previous fiascos of leaked public examination papers as well as professional papers (remember the Certificate in Legal Practice?) where some students get copies of the examination papers in advance and thus, giving them an unfair advantage over the other students.

As a parent, would you condone you child taking a peek at a leaked examination paper? Or would you be party to the fiasco by trying to get the paper "leaked"? Any right minded parent would vehemently deny that they would take part in such despicable acts. So, really, is it solely the action of the child working hand in hand with the black sheeps in the examination syndicate? Perhaps children are not as innocent nowadays. Yeah, blame it on them.

But really, I think parents play a far more crucial role in moulding their children with the right ethics and morality on what is right and what is wrong. Don't tell your children that cheating is not right when you are cheating yourself. Don't tell your children that bribery is wrong when you openly offer to sponsor the traffic cop breakfast in order to let you off the hook for breaking the traffic rules. Don't tell your children to stop cursing when you rant and curse at the next driver who swerves into your lane without turning on the signal lights. Don't teach your children about family values when you are flirting with the opposite sex outside and cheating on your family.

With no reference to the Darwinian theory, children ape the adults. And if they are caught cheating in an examination, chances are, they have seen adults cheating before.