Charger Opinion

Cheating is Deceiving

Alison Palmer, Charger Staff

Cheating and other forms of dishonesty are ever increasing in today’s society. People are stealing everything from gumdrops to gasoline.

In fact, The National Association of Convenience Stores say they have lost three times more money from people driving away without paying for their gas this past year.

It is becoming more and more common to hear of people cheating on tax returns or of politicians stretching the truth to the public.
Some wonder where this national growth in dishonesty originates, and many point to education.

In a 1998 survey conducted by Who’s Who Among High School Students, it shows that eighty percent of high school students cheat, and fifty-three percent of those students do not feel it was seriously unethical.

Many students justify cheating with excuses such as not enough time or the assignment is too overwhelming to handle.
Others are under pressure from their parents or teachers to do well. No matter what the excuse is everyone should realize that studying works just as well and is much more gratifying.

A recent survey shows that it is mainly honors students who cheat regularly, and they are good at it, so teachers rarely notice.
Instead of thinking that what they are doing is wrong, they actually consider it as a sign of intelligence.

At Piper High School in Kansas City, twenty-eight students in a sophomore honors biology class failed because they were caught plagiarizing on research projects.

Shockingly the students and their parents argued the fact that what they did was wrong and complained that the teacher did not clearly specify what plagiarism was.

The results? The school was bombarded with emails from corporations asking for the names of those students who cheated to be sure they would never to hire them.

Cheating ruins your credibility and reputation, both of which or necessary for success.

Unfortunately, students are coming up with more and more ways to cheat in school. Pupils use everything from tape recorders to stealing test questions to writing minuscule answers on a tiny scrap of paper.

The sad truth is that most students will cheat if they feel they need to and think they can get away with it.

Eventually those who cheat will become more and more comfortable with their dishonest behavior and will end up making a careless mistake and will be caught.

Fortunately there are some measures being taken to minimize cheating in the classroom. Cookeville High School teachers can submit students’ work to www.turnitin.com and the paper will automatically be scanned for any plagiarism.

It is impossible to erase cheating completely in schools, but if teachers would emphasize the immorality and injustice of cheating and enforce punishment on perpetrators, the cases of cheating would significantly reduce.

The same assignments and exams given year after year also make cheating easier for students.

Small changes in curriculum could minimize the opportunities people have to cheat.

These are just some suggestions to help control cheating.

Teachers are in no way responsible for this despicable behavior. It is the students themselves who make the ultimate decision.
Some students just do not know that cheating is morally wrong. If they will have this ethical standard ingrained in them before leaving high school, there will also be fewer cases of dishonesty in college and in the work force.

It is unnerving to think of the many people who cheated in school and are now in charge of our clinics and our communities.
Cheating is ethically wrong and unfair to those students who work hard in their studies.

In the words of Elizabeth Dole to the Duke class of 2000, “In the final analysis, it is your moral compass that counts far more than any bank balance, and resume, and yes, any diploma.”

Article prepared for web by Kent Goolsby