Blinkered and Boxed, Students Fight Cheating

When you think about it, it’s surprising that blinders aren’t a more popular weapon in the fight against cheating. A set of screens that keeps eyes forward—and billow conspicuously when a student turns his head—seems like a cheaper solution, certainly, than paying a proctor to watch a student’s eyeballs on a Webcam. Nevertheless, people are talking about students at Thailand’s Kasetsart University, who fashioned some homemade blinders:

The hats, which were made out of computer paper, have gone viral on the Internet after an image was posted on a university page on Facebook, where it received so many negative reactions that it was later removed.

However, students were in favor of the hats. They came up with the idea and made the hats themselves on the day of the test. Rawiporn Buasaeng, a third-year student, told the Bangkok Post, “It is quite normal that people try to cheat in an exam, so the hat helps avoid distractions while doing the test. I feel very bad, and angry, that this has been seen as bad by outsiders.”

Besides, it could have worse. According to a few dubiously sourced Internet photos, this is not the first time students have worn strange headgear to take a test.