The Importance Of Cheating To Avoid Learning

851 Words2 Pages

Andres Lopez-Ruiz
Prof. Brandon Rocke
English 103
19 February 2014
Cheating to Avoid Learning
A college student is writing a final research paper. He is putting all his effort, but it seems like it is not enough. The fear of not being able to get hold of a passing grade is getting to his head as the deadline is quickly approaching, and the only key to success appears to be cheating. Dishonest acts, such as cheating and plagiarizing, seem to be an easy way out of particular problems, but there is a risk associated with all kinds of deceitful actions. Regardless of the fact that students know about the risks linked to cheating, some decide to continue with this activity and complete their work in a dishonest way. There is a variety of reasons why students decide to cheat, but prioritizing the value of a grade over the importance of learning, the stress caused by procrastination, and not having a complete understanding of the material being handled are the principal reasons why students decide to cheat.
First of all, students have acquired the idea that higher grades indicate that they are more successful even if they are not learning the material being presented in the classroom. I believe that acquiring knowledge is the ultimate goal of education, and I agree that a transcript with high grades looks outstanding. However, if these grades are earned through the use of dishonest techniques, and if there is no knowledge attained, the entire purpose of education would be defeated. Depending on the students’ academic position, they might be inclined to cheat in order to get high grades regardless of the fact that they would not be learning anything. A student with low grades would be more motivated to cheat for a higher grade than a stud...

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...fact that they do not understand the focus of what is being taught, and they could cheat in order to reduce stress. Not knowing the material that you are dealing with could origin a degree of trouble when working on any type of assignments and this might eventually lead to cheating.
Therefore, there are plenty of reasons why students may be persuaded to cheat, including the ones mentioned above, but I do not believe any of these reasons is an actual excuse for being fraudulent. Students should know that all their actions come with consequences either positive of negative, and although some may not get caught cheating, they are only cheating themselves because they are not reaching the main goal of education. Temptation is always there, but it depends on you whether you want to take the risk and deal with its consequences, or if you want to actually learn something.

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