Evaluation of The Effect of Dishonesty in Colleges

The Lazy Way Out

Students now a days has become not only dishonest but also lazy when it comes to doing schoolwork on their own. Many students will resort to cheating and not just in high school but also in college. Academic dishonesty has become an awful habit of many students in schools. Multiple students want the wonderful and amazing grades that will impress their parents, but many do not want to do the work that is required for that. Copious amounts of things cause students to cheat, and some will never get caught, but those who are caught face the effects of what they chose to do not only in school but in their life as well.

Many teachers and parents wonder why students cheat. Lately, cheating has become a much worse “Statistics show that cheating among high school students has risen dramatically during the past 50 years” (Educational Testing Service and Ad Council’s). Cheating has become a very big problem. The reason to some for cheating is:

Some people cheat because they want to seem cooler than their friends or try to impress their friends. Students cheat because they think if they cheat all the time they’re going to get smarter. In addition to pressure from peers, students spoke about pressure from adults, pressure related to standardized testing, and the demands of competing responsibilities. (Goldman)

Many of them see school as a competition they see it as who can get the highest grade and class rank. Some also think it is cool to cheat and that it impress their friends, and many also do it when they are “failing a class,” just so they do not have to repeat the class (Goldman). Students constantly cheat, but they also do not think about what happens when they are caught cheating in school.

When someone cheats they are not always caught, but when they are they are reprimanded. The disciplinary actions taken differ in high school than those in college. Cheating in high school causes mistrust between the students and teachers. The students think they are not hurting anyone but they are. They hurt their peers by cheating those never caught cheating sometimes become valedictorian when a student who work hard should have become valedictorian. College is much different from high school when it comes to cheating. If a student is caught cheating the college takes it very seriously. Most colleges will call for “Dismissal from the course,” “Suspension,” or even “ Expulsion”(Behrman). Academic dishonesty in school does not only follow the students in school, but also the rest of the student’s life.

Many people who cheated in school usually do not realize they are causing themselves a disservice. Those who cheated successfully usually will cheat again and the more they cheat the easier it is for them to ease their consciences (Casico). When a person sees that they are getting the amazing grades and opportunities they want they will continue to cheat. Some people think that cheating is making them smarter, but it is actually hindering them “ One long-term effect of cheating is that you don’t have access to knowledge you never learned in the first place” (Casico). A person is not learning when they are cheating they are doing a major disservice to themselves and probably others if they got a job in the field they wanted, but cheated on the test they had to take to get the job. Cheating may seem great at the time someone does it, but it hurts in a students future endeavors.

Cheating to some is the only out, but it never helps in the future. In school it may help the student pass that one test they needed to graduate or pass the class, but it fails them later on in their adult life. This horrible habit of cheating effects many the innocent people who actually work hard for their grades. Those caught face strict punishment due to their actions. Cheating in college could hurt the student worse than when they were in high school.