Cheating. Most, if not all, of us have committed this act at least once in our school career. Some people, after committing it on a regular basis, have declared that it is right, that they do so much work and didn't have time to study, that it is, in fact, allowable for them to cheat in order to keep up with their classmates so that they can remain in the top x% and get into an elite college of their choosing.

Is cheating correct? Does it lead to people who work hard becoming disadvantaged due to classmates who utilize unscrupulous means to achieve their gains? Is it ever acceptable to cheat?

Also, what causes cheating? Is it the pressure society puts on us, or is it something else?

Cheating in school is wrong!

Not to sound like a teacher, but why go to school if you're going to cheat the whole way through? You don't benefit in anyway besides making a good mark. A good grade is may be nice, but ultimately the information is only useful if you retain it.

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The main problem with essay questions is that teachers actually have to think while grading them. Don't expect big increases in them anytime soon.

Yep, that's what my Spanish prof said.

Cheating is a necessary evil, I think. It's quite prevalent in life outside school. While it is possible to go through life without cheating at all, it's a lot easier to cheat every so often when it benefits you and isn't going to hurt anyone else.

But that's just the unscrupulous part of me talking. I don't cheat and I doubt I ever will in any substantial fashion.

The main problem with essay questions is that teachers actually have to think while grading them. Don't expect big increases in them anytime soon.

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two words:
Essay Questions

I love essay questions...although, I love them mostly because even if you don't actually know the answer to the question, you are still able to show how much you really know about a subject. For example, when I wasn't entirely sure of the difference between manslaughter and murder 2 on my criminal law exam, I still was able to sound like I knew enough about what I was talking about for her to give me full credit. (I'm not certain she actually reads my essays anymore though...that was a really BAD essay...I usually have a high work quality, so her not bothering to read my essay is relatively likely.)

If you don't have ADD and you take Adderall, you're just as likely to spend the next five hours playing pinball as you are to spend them studying, even if your original intent was to study. I say this from personal experience.

But I would have to say no to Ikki's question; it's not really cheating. Adderall doesn't make you any smarter, it just makes you way more wired and sometimes creates feelings of mild euphoria (nothing Mountain Dew isn't capable of). Any stimulant on earth, from a Hershey's bar to crystal meth, could be said to keep you up and give you an unfair advantage to study more.

I was talking to Puff who brought up a good question (She doesn't remember her password):

Is using drugs like Aderall and "gamer's speed" considered cheating, seeing as it gives people the ability to stay awake for hours on end and potentially gives them an unfair advantage to study more?

cheating pisses me off because it's abandoning your morals and honor for something that in the long run only hurts you and in the short run as fina proved only hurts your peers

The Ampmaster Cheat Proof Testing System (this system will be implemented in my history class when I start teaching)

two words:
Essay Questions

Well, I guess I don't know a lot about cheating on tests. The only way I could cheat is by using the answer book, and I haven't taken a test for years. So you probably know better than me. I only learn what I need to...

I agree with everything MagicKiss said. There are pressures to succeed, sure, but nothing justifies cheating. What's really terrifying is the severe case of tunnel vision some high school juniors and seniors develop: "If I just get straight A's, I'll get the scholarship to the perfect school for sure, and then I'll live happily ever after!" There's enough things wrong with this all-or-nothing kind of thinking about college to write an entire book (I'm sure someone already has), but suffice to say that even the "run of the mill" colleges can be just as good as the allegedly outstanding ones, and that every time a door closes, another two or three open. Also, you can go to Harvard and then go on to be a miserable failure for the rest of your life (if you prefer to take the negative perspective).

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Originally posted by invisiblegirl:
I don't think it is ever okay to cheat, but I don't think it puts others in a more disadvantaged position, because people who cheat do not actually learn the material, so when the time comes that it is just them, people will see what they actually know for themselves.

Oh, how I wished life worked like this. It's true that if you copy your friend's homework and don't bother to learn the material, you're gonna get screwed on the test around the bend. But if you cheat on the test, there's a very good chance you'll never get your comeuppance. In school, you learn a whole lot of things you'll never gonna need again, and an education is not a wholly cumulative experience. You're fairly likely to get burned if you breeze over a key part of math or Spanish or something like that, but what if you cheat your way through a history final? A psychology final? A poli sci final? If you're not caught at the time, odds are you'll never pay for it.

And yes, it does burn other students. I have to tell the same story every time this topic comes up, and I know I just sound bitter seeing as how it's now five and a half years old: 9th grade. Western Civ final. Ridiculously hard teacher, ridiculously hard class. But the guy's one saving grace was that, like a lot of teachers I've had since (especially in college), he took the highest score on his tests and set the maximum points possible out of that. For example, if a test had 100 questions and the best anyone did was a 90, your score was now out of 90. Anyway, this particular test was a real doozie. The best anyone did would have been a C had things been out of 100. Anyone, that is, except for the one girl who was bragging to everyone within earshot before the test began that she had all the answers concealed under her desk. She got an A, and my would-be B became a D as a consequence. When there's any kind of curved grading involved, cheaters KILL EVERYONE.

What pisses me off is the lack of precaution so many of my high school teachers took. They're still as permissive in college, but the amount of cheating in my college seems to be way down in comparison. Maybe everyone's finally growing up. But the point is, teachers can be downright careless. More often than not they bury their nose in paperwork while the test is going on, and sometimes they're actually stupid enough to leave the room. And back in my high school, kids who did get caught cheating? More often than not, they got a 0 on whatever they were caught cheating on, and that was that. If I had my way, if you were caught cheating twice, you'd be expelled, no excuses, no exceptions.

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Is it ever acceptable to cheat?

I don't believe the end justifies the means. If you want to get in to a good school, then work to get there.Deserve it. You can't expect everything to be handed to you in life. With that mentality you will get nowhere. People have this idea now that it doesn't matter what they do in the process as long as they can achieve their goal. But in reality, they haven't achieved anything. That diploma or degree hanging from the wall doesn't belong to you. It says nothing about what you know and have learned because you haven't really learned anything. It's empty.

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Also, what causes cheating? Is it the pressure society puts on us, or is it something else?

I think it depends from what viewpoint you look at it. One person may say that it's just an excuse for those who are lazy, while others may blame the pressure of society to always be on top. You have to be the best, ace the test, maintain your cool and come out successfully from any curve ball life may throw at you. This is what society tells you, if not, you're a loser who doesn't deserve a second look. But in reality, life is struggle, trails and falls. And it is those who are able to get up and continue that make the real difference. But you wont hear that from society. No, you have to be perfect and look good while achieving it, no matter what you have to sacrifice in order to get there. Even if it's your morals and integrity.

Cheating could be caused by different things. Maybe it's pressure from the parents to get good grades, expectations they feel they have to live up to, or wanting to keep up their friends and not be humiliated when they don't do very well.

I don't think it is ever okay to cheat, but I don't think it puts others in a more disadvantaged position, because people who cheat do not actually learn the material, so when the time comes that it is just them, people will see what they actually know for themselves. You may get the right answer to the math equation by copying off of your neighbor, but you won't learn how to solve it. You're just making it harder for yourself in the end.