Ever since tests have been administered, measures to prevent cheating have also been enforced. In grade school, students attempting to cheat would be dissuaded by “walls” consisting of two folders stapled together that would act as a barricade to prevent wandering eyes from receiving unauthorized aid. However, while such preventative measures are eventually removed, cheating is not forgotten. In fact, it seems that students learn more sophisticated ways to cheat as their schooling progresses.
“Academic dishonesty is something that happens all the time no matter which school you go to,” says San Mateo junior Michael Chiang, “I have been to three different high schools and yet the results are the same. There are people either cheating on tests or homework or any other assignment.”
Indeed, the prevalence of new technology and its integration into the classroom curriculum appear to have opened new avenues for academic dishonesty. “People help each other on Facebook; they can take a picture [of their work] and send it. Also, people excessively message you for help and answers,” says sophomore Anthony Kalife.
English teacher Victoria Daniel adds, “Well, clearly, it mostly has to do with technology. In fact I just caught a student the other day who had taken a picture of his friend’s quiz and came to make up the quiz at lunch with me and was on his phone when I wasn’t looking, looking at a picture of that quiz, and his friend had done pretty well on it. So, I do not think that’s new, it’s just that he got caught.”
One anonymous student says, “Overall, I don’t think that [technology] has influenced the cheating scene that much. Most of the cheating occurs in between classes when students are rushing to cram for a quiz or finish an assignment before the next period. Compared to that kind of academic dishonesty, plagiarism and other ways of cheating online are rather rare.”
Although academic dishonesty ranges from homework help to plagiarism on essays, most students agree that unwarranted homework help is the most common form. “When teachers assign busy work that doesn’t require much actual thought, it’s tempting to just copy the assignment from someone else. They say that every assignment has some value, but in certain cases I’d beg to differ,” says the first anonymous student. “For example, what’s the difference between copying notes from a friend and taking them from the book? Getting them from a friend saves the time and energy that would have been spent wading through essentially unimportant information—time that could have been spent working on an important assignment for a different class.”
“I guess for [people that cheat on homework] it’s nothing that big—it’s just an opportunity to get your points. But if it actually counts, then I’m going put my [own] work in,” reflects freshman Nicholas Tong.
Tong notes that cheating on homework seems more common than on tests and says, “Occasionally, I notice someone asking for the answers during a test from neighbors, but it’s very rare.”
“It just doesn’t seem like that big of a deal [if you say] ‘Oh like study this extra.’ If you’re giving exact questions and exact answers then that’s cheating, but if you ask, ‘Oh what should I study in third period before the test’ then I don’t really think it’s a big deal,” says a second anonymous student.
A third anonymous student notes several repeated instances of cheating in a particular class, saying, “When a teacher leaves the room, the students all turn to one another and ask each other for answers on a test. I don’t think it’s particularly surprising [that no one tells them to stop]. I think some students try to shush the class, but peer pressure keeps them from really stopping it from happening. Other students tend to just keep their nose down, but the majority of the class goes right ahead and shares answers. Most students don’t go to the teachers because they’re too afraid for, one, their own grade and, two, the class grade. If a teacher found out that the whole class had cheated, everyone would receive a zero, including the person who told them.”
Unlike homework and tests, papers are subject to review by Turnitin.com. “Turnitin is the main reason that no one cheats on papers anymore. Because, why would you… how could you plagiarize if there’s that chance that this website can catch you no matter what you do,” says the first anonymous student.
The first anonymous student continues, “I think cheating is motivated primarily by personal ambition, rather than any competitive desire. Everyone just wants to do their best and get into a good college. It’s kind of sad that we are under so much pressure to be successful that we so willingly sacrifice moral values. Cheating is misguided, but understandable.”
Daniel avoids harsh punishment and says, “To me it’s a sign of desperation. Desperation or laziness, but usually it takes some effort to cheat, it really does. So I think it is symptomatic of a larger issue—lack of confidence, [feeling] overwhelmed.”
“Regardless of the consequences, people generally cheat because there’s that possibility of doing better on a test or a quiz. And that, in most people’s eyes, makes cheating worth it,” reflects the third anonymous student.
“Instead of cheating, it’s ‘checking answers’ or ‘helping a friend out.’ Since they know that others do it, they justify their own actions and believe that it’s alright,” says the third anonymous student.
Mills junior Noah Seto brings a different perspective. “It’s so competitive at Mills, and so many people want to succeed. It’s not a lack of morals—but [a] compromise of morals. I think also because of the way we were raised, it’s either success or bust, so people don’t want to compromise morals but sometimes they feel like they have to in order to get what they want.” Apparently this logic speaks for itself—a moral justification is unnecessary for cheating.
The anonymous sources in the article were granted anonymity based on the nature of their information.
