Beating Cheating

Cracking Down on Cheating

            High school has degraded into a place that fosters a great amount of pressure, all of which rests upon students to earn the highest grades that they possibly can. To the average student, this is often overwhelming and leads to choosing an illicit method to earn the coveted A. While high schools have started to recognize the problem and are now instating new rules that are designed to punish those caught cheating, these, so far, have been ineffective and have done nothing to faze would be cheaters. Due to the pervasive cheating that goes on at the high school level, the consequences for cheating need to be more severe in order to promote an environment that embodies academic integrity.

High schools have now developed a standardized system for punishing kids who are caught cheating. It is often lenient and gives too much leeway to students, which does not effectively turn them away from their cheating habits. Rochester Community Schools has a loose policy that states, “Following proper corrective action including a parent contact Steps 2-3” (RCS Student Code of Conduct 7), which refers to a graduated system of punishment based on the committed act. One can appropriately assume that Steps 2 and 3 are not terribly severe, and that would be correct. Step 3 is defined as, “One day (short term) suspension” (RCS Student Code of Conduct 6), meaning the maximum punishment for even the most severe forms of cheating is a day off from school. Despite this potential consequence, most teachers decide simply to give the student the least significant punishment, which, as described by the Academic Integrity Agreement is, “A zero (0) on the task assignment (such as test, quiz, projects, etc.) regardless of point value” (RCS Academic Integrity Agreement). This combination of poor enforcement and low consequences has only lead to creating an environment in which cheaters prosper in comparison to the average student.

As cheaters realize that they can get away with more and more in the high school setting, the amount of cheaters is growing at an alarming rate. Donald McCabe, a professor from Rutgers University, has been studying high school students for nine years and has surveyed over seventy thousand high school kids in order to observe their academic habits. His results are frightening. Approximately 64% of students surveyed anonymously admitted to serious cases of cheating on tests and examinations (Oleck). When asked about all academic tasks, the integrity of the entire class comes into question. A total of 95% of students said that they have participated in some form of cheating, whether it is copying homework or using answers from the back of the book (Oleck).