I suppose it's all relative which is what should make this frightening for most Chinese citizenry. This is a police exam - ie people who are being let out into the world to catch cheaters and those who break the law. What makes the fifth graders likely to be more honest is that they probably have a greater reputational incentive for catching cheaters than the previous examiners did (which is in itself a more frightening thought that examiners for a police exam would think that catching cheating is "embarrassing" and brush it under the table).
The problem with that is that most kids do not understand the gravity of most situations. If the kids are motivated by accolades or treats then they might throw in a few false positives for selfish reasons.
I would think they are less likely to empathize with a cheater and think that revealing him would cause him embarrassment or career. I have experienced that kids of that age are more likely to call out people's bs without really thinking of social consequences of that.
PS. if this is an examp for high official jobs, I would think the adult supervisors might intentionally overlook some cheaters to get on their good side in the future when they get powerful posts.
There was a great bbc or nova episode that followed a number of children as they passed into adolescence. One of things they noted was how for a child there is no moral ambiguity.
"Your wife is very sick, but you have no money. Your at a store and have the opportunity to steal some medicine, do you?"
The children always said it was wrong and there was no justification for stealing. The 13 year old was very hesitant and unsure what to say.
So for a 5th grader (11?) there is no emotion about it, the guy is cheating and will be reported on.
Seems like a humbling experience for the test takers to be supervised by 12-year-olds, and when you get to a position of power a humbling experience or two are useful. For kids on the other hand it puts cheating into perspective. I wonder if it will make them less likely to cheat in the future or, in opposite, give them ideas how to do it better.
I have a wonderful idea for a business (almost along the same line as this). You outsource your CCTV video watching to a 3rd world country.
This will help a lot since it will be a lot cheaper (even a small business can have 16 cameras that is difficult to monitor).
The reason why this will work is the same as in the article: The people doing the watching do not know those they are supervising and they are not likely to empathise with them.
Having just finished reading 1984, I couldn't help but think of the children as part of the "spies". It's an interesting experiment, but I'm not sure if we want to start positively reinforcing the behavior in children to rat out adults on a regular basis. All it takes to ruin your life is one child, looking for some attention, to create a story with you as the villain.
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[ 4.1 ms ] story [ 43.7 ms ] threadVs. Kids who probably enjoyed getting adults in trouble.
PS. if this is an examp for high official jobs, I would think the adult supervisors might intentionally overlook some cheaters to get on their good side in the future when they get powerful posts.
"Your wife is very sick, but you have no money. Your at a store and have the opportunity to steal some medicine, do you?"
The children always said it was wrong and there was no justification for stealing. The 13 year old was very hesitant and unsure what to say.
So for a 5th grader (11?) there is no emotion about it, the guy is cheating and will be reported on.
This will help a lot since it will be a lot cheaper (even a small business can have 16 cameras that is difficult to monitor).
The reason why this will work is the same as in the article: The people doing the watching do not know those they are supervising and they are not likely to empathise with them.