High School Cheating Epidemic
As I have seen in my High School experience thus far, cheating is not only common but completely normal. Sitting in my Spanish class with the substitute teacher, I glanced around the room to notice various notecards sitting on desks, people whispering, iPads and Phones in hands, and even blatant talking or leaning over and looking at the answers on the neighbor's exam. Why? They could. Even the students who had studied and prepared for the exam allowed those who didn’t to just look at all of their answers. It was an interesting dynamic. A complete culture of cheating brought about not only by poor ethics but also by the struggle for survival.
Cheating is not limited to the unintelligent. The brightest, best in the class participate in cheating just as much or more than those with no regard for the rules. I noticed in my Spanish Class the girl with a 98 had google translate pulled up on her iPad. And it wasn’t as if this was someone with no ethics either. She had a strong moral compass and an annoying knack for following the rules, but for some reason cheating was ok. Cheating becomes justified under the “get an A” mentality parents and teachers instill in teens. An article written by Jessica Lahey points out the attitude of a high school graduate looking back at his high school cheating endeavors. She wrote that “the student felt justified even ethically obligated- to cheat when denied a good education.” Students see classes as a means to their end goal, never actually attempting to learn. We are taught to get a 4.0 GPA, not to leave the class more prepared for life than when we entered. Is cheating the lack of a moral compass or a result of a flawed educational system?
Cheating is not limited to the unintelligent. The brightest, best in the class participate in cheating just as much or more than those with no regard for the rules. I noticed in my Spanish Class the girl with a 98 had google translate pulled up on her iPad. And it wasn’t as if this was someone with no ethics either. She had a strong moral compass and an annoying knack for following the rules, but for some reason cheating was ok. Cheating becomes justified under the “get an A” mentality parents and teachers instill in teens. An article written by Jessica Lahey points out the attitude of a high school graduate looking back at his high school cheating endeavors. She wrote that “the student felt justified even ethically obligated- to cheat when denied a good education.” Students see classes as a means to their end goal, never actually attempting to learn. We are taught to get a 4.0 GPA, not to leave the class more prepared for life than when we entered. Is cheating the lack of a moral compass or a result of a flawed educational system?
Education, in my experience, is about passing. It’s about getting the grades. Busy work is dished out like hot pancakes and teachers are required to enter in a set number of assignments to the grade book a week. Never has a teacher made an attempt to help me master a subject, rather I have been taught to master a final. Perhaps that’s my own fault. I should look at school as an opportunity rather than a chore, but that exceptionally hard to do with the pressure put on by teachers to achieve the grade that’ll get me into college. I can easily see the incentives to cheat. Cheating gives students a leg up; an easier route; a more practical route. Ethically, cheating is certainly, undeniably wrong. But name one high schooler worried about ethics with their test in front of them. Cheating, while unethical, is the smartest option for a high school student to get a good grade. Don’t get me wrong. I do not condone cheating in any shape or form; I’m just saying I understand the incentive. I understand the why and I even think that it's partially the school's responsibility. Schools need to bring the focus to a mastery of the concept: They need to create an environment of excitement and learning. A school is not a prison and a student should not feel imprisoned while going to school. Somehow, schools should look at the cheating epidemic as a sign that they have gone wrong. Not that their students are morality monsters, but that the schools themselves have internal issues that must be fixed.
Maybe I’m living in a fantasy world that school can be fun and learning can be respected, but maybe something can be done. I don’t know what needs to be done, but I know something can change.
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