Cheating: Is It Worth It?

Cheating on a test just to get a good grade will get students nowhere in life
[Source: Independent.co.uk]

As schools require higher GPA and well-rounded extracurricular activities, students are often pressured to receive straight A’s in their classes. However, some may take it to a wrong level and consider cheating as an option. Cheating is when one is violating rules dishonestly. By cheating, students will lose their academic integrity, their chance to gain knowledge, and it will permanently remain on their transcript. Risking all these factors, why do students still regard cheating?

At times, a student may be tempted to cheat when he/she is not prepared for the test but another student who is smart is sitting next to them. But by doing so, he/she is not only losing academic integrity but also cheating on themselves. It is his/her fault for not preparing for the test. Sean O’Brien, an AP English Language and Composition teacher at West Ranch High School, shared, “It is given that cheating is bad, and I still do not have any idea why students cheat knowing the fact that it will never help. It is quite unfair to those who never cheat and try their best versus who always cheat and receive a higher score.” As O’Brien continued to share his thoughts, he said, “It is at times difficult for me, who has been teaching for over 10 years, to face a student who cheated.”

Then what could possibly be the most precise reason why students risk cheating? Hannah Park, a junior in West Ranch High School commented, “I think it is because most of the time, students are pressured from their parents to get straight A’s especially when they are enrolled in AP or Honors classes in high school.”

Many students cheat when they are not ready for a test or do not feel confident.
[Source: Boston Globe]

But cheating is not just simply looking over at someone else’s paper and writing down the answers. There are multiple ways of cheating: using a smartphone, someone exposing the answers, or using apple watch. When tests are given, usually, there are answers to the questions online. Simply, students can search up the question, and when the teacher looks away, he/she will then write down the correct answers. Or, a student who took the test before anyone can write down the questions or the answers and expose it to others which then other students do not have to study. And unexpectedly, students may use apple watch to cheat. How? When someone takes a picture of their textbook through their iPhone, it will automatically transfer to their apple watch. Then a student can refer to their watch as they take the test.

In order to prevent cheating, the teachers have tried several ways to stop students from losing academic integrity. The teachers have made a variety of versions of the test so students cannot copy off of someone, or they have created questions on their own so the answers are not online. But instead of having teachers try hard to avert student from cheating, students, in the first place, should not cheat and try to study and achieve their goals. Because it is not only unfair to those students who try their hardest, but also students who cheat will do the same even when they are adults.

Minju Cho

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