“Academic Cheating” Is it Worth It?

821 Words2 Pages

Take out your sticky notes, electronic devices, or the magic markers to write with on the palms of your hands. Look over at your classmate’s paper and copy the “correct” answers for the quiz questions one through ten. Hand in your quiz into your teacher early, and then lay your head on your desk and go to sleep. Does that ring a bell? The topic being focused on is cheating. Not the type of cheating where you break your boyfriend, or girlfriend’s heart. This discussion is based on the cheating a lot of students practice in class, “academic cheating” to be precise. Academic cheating is defined as representing someone else's work as your own. It can take many forms, including sharing another student’s work, purchasing a term paper or test questions in advance, or paying another student to do the work for you.(ETS/AD Council) 70% of public high school students admit to serious test cheating. 60% say they have plagiarized papers. Only 50% of private school students, however, admit to this. (McCabe)
Many students suggest that cheating helps with succession, which should at least come as great news to students who are over worked with tons of homework. However it is a downfall for students who want to become more independent and an even greater downfall for students who cheat their way to the top and can no longer cheat any more. The two believes argue that succeeding is at a student’s fingertips, but is the price willing to pay really worth it?
Some students argue that cheating is the easiest, and the best way to get a good grade. For example, you’re up all night doing homework for other classes, but you forgot to study for this one quiz you will have early in the morning for your first period class. You start panicking heavily, becau...

... middle of paper ...

...ges. Defeating school, having a lack of knowledge, becoming lazy, and loosing your self respect and integrity will all show up later on in life.

Works Cited

1. Ad Council 1999 Educational Testing Service (ETS)
2. McCabe and Trevino, "Multicampus Investigation",
3. Donald L. McCabe and Linda Klebe Trevino, "Academic Dishonesty: Honor Codes and Other Contextual Influences", The Journal of Higher Education 64, no. 5, (September–October 1993)
4. Kenneth J. Smith, Jeanette A. Davy, and Debbie Easterling, "An Examination of Cheating and its Antecedents Among Marketing and Management Majors", Journal of Business Ethics 50, no. 1, (March 2004)
5. Richard A. Fass, "By Honor Bound: Encouraging Academic Honesty", Educational Record 67, no. 4 (Fall 1986)
6. Kevin Davis, "Student Cheating: A Defensive Essay," The English Journal 81, no. 6 (October 1992), 72.

More about “Academic Cheating” Is it Worth It?

Open Document