Nala Turner

The room is silent, tests cover desks and for one unfortunate student, his mind is blank. Does he risk a “C” on the 100-point assessment, knocking his grade down or sneak a quick glance at his friend’s test for a little help? For 65 percent (164/253) of students the answer is simple: to cheat.

What is cheating?

According to the Educational Testing Service’s website (ETS), cheating in school is defined as portraying someone else’s work as your own, whether it be copying homework, paying someone to write a paper for you or looking off another person’s test. But that is not where it ends. People who help others excel are also considered cheaters.

“Anyone who either obtains or shares answers to an assessment that counts for a grade in an attempt to get a better grade or help someone else get a better grade [is cheating],” Bob Becker, chemistry teacher, said.

From the handbook: The Kirkwood School District Student Handbook defines cheating as “Academic Dishonesty” and classifies it as, “cheating on tests, assignments, projects or similar activities; plagiarism; claiming credit for another person’s work; fabrication of facts, sources or other supporting material; unauthorized collaboration; facilitating academic dishonesty; and other misconduct related to academics.”

Why do we cheat?

According to Ben Michaelis of The Huffington Post, we cheat because of society’s fixation on winners.

“In America ’tis better to cheat and win than be honest and lose,” Michaelis said in his blog, “Why Do We Cheat.”

This statement holds particularly true in regard to cheating in school, Michaelis said. Students want to excel in school, even if the accomplishment involves dishonesty. As the survey shows, 64 per- cent (162/254) of students recognize that cheating is wrong, but65 percent (164/253) of them continue to cheat anyway. According to The New York Times’ article, “Studies Find More Students Cheating, With High Achievers No Exception,” the reasoning behind this decision can be easily broken down into two factors: pressure and ease of cheating.

Through the years, school has become increasingly more competitive with the elevated number of college applications that are rejected, as stated in the Chicago Tribune’s article “Colleges send record number of rejections.” The pressure to succeed academically has risen also, according to the ETS’s website. Students feel pressure to do well in class so they can get good grades and get into a respectable college. But this cycle of dishonesty does not stop after high school, said the ETS.

In a series of surveys conducted by the American Psychological Association over the past years, between 75 to 98 percent of college students admit to cheating because they feel they must get good grades to get an adequate job. The need for success pushes an overwhelmed high school student participating in sports, clubs and school work over the edge and into dishonesty. Cheating is no longer just a crime committed by students struggling to pass, but students at the top of their class who hope to continue thriving, according to the ETS’s website.

As written in The New York Times’ piece by Richard Pérez-Pena, the biggest factor in executing unethical behavior is how easy or hard it is to do. With smartphones and the Internet readily available, cheating is easier. Text a friend a question during a test and the answer arrives within minutes. If you do not feel like writing your English essay, a quick Google search supplies multiple pre-written essays to choose from. When cheating is as easy as glancing at a picture of a study guide on a student’s iPhone, it occurs much more frequently, said Pérez-Pena.

Punishment for cheating

In accordance with the KHS Student Handbook, a student caught cheating for the first time will lose credit on the assignment and his or her parents will be notified by the teacher. The second time a student is caught cheating, he or she will not receive credit on the assignment, his or her parents will be notified and he or she will be referred to their grade level administrator with the possibility of in-school suspension. Finally, in any further instances the student will not receive credit, have a parent-teacher conference and be given in-school or out-of-school suspension depending on the circumstances.

Real Situation:

– “I let my friend copy off me for my multiple choice answers. My teacher wrote a note on both of our tests afterward and she talked to us, but we didn’t lose credit.” – senior boy

What’s your opinion on cheating/cheaters?

– “I don’t think [cheating] is right. I think [cheaters] need to figure stuff out for themselves instead of relying on other people.” – sophomore girl

– “I’m okay with it if it’s just for little things, like homework or if you’re back and forth between two answers and you just want to check, but not for a free response where it’s writing and you actually just copy them.” – senior girl

– “I think it’s a [cheater’s] own mistake if they get caught and it’s their own problem, but I don’t like people cheating off of me.”- sophomore boy

– “It’s mostly just a detriment to themselves. If [cheaters] cheat from someone, that person is still going to get the same score they were going to get anyway, but if they’re not learning the material for when they need it, then I think it can be problematic for [the cheater].” – senior boy
– “It’s like a collective group effort. I feel like in school, it’s almost like we earn our grades as a whole. It’s like a buddy system.” – senior girl