by Alan Haskvitz

Students cheat in school for several reasons, including the following:

• Pressure to get good grades;
• Being unprepared;
• The challenge of trying to get away with it.

Unfortunately by cheating the student is setting a pattern for life.  Instead of accepting the challenge of learning, they accept the challenge of not getting caught.

Impact of Cheating

Students cheat in numerous ways. Some methods include:  crib notes,  plagiarism from existing papers/reports or the Internet, copying, or giving test questions to a classmate. Students rationalize complex reasons from "I didn't understand the question" to "He copied from me."  The latter is especially difficult because students often don't think it is wrong to help a friend; they misapply the sharing concept learned in younger years to rationalize their actions.

In reality, the majority of students who cheat do so to improve their chance for success in the long run.  Students feel good grades will get them into a good college or university and into a good job. In other words, the means justify the end.

A student who fails is considered inferior and, ironically, an inferior student is the most likely to cheat.  Please note I stated inferior student, not inferior person or intellect; many highly successful people have been inferior students. That is why it is all the more difficult to deal with cheating by being overly sympathetic teachers and parents.  It is difficult to tread the line between understanding the situation and tolerating falsehoods when dealing with a sensitive child.  Remember cheating is a learned behavior that may not be limited to the classroom if it goes uncorrected.

No less a scholar than Thomas Jefferson opposed testing, as do many current educators.  Jefferson felt if a student wanted to attend a university, they should, and when they felt educated enough, they should leave.  In Singapore, a country that prides itself on high-test scores, parents claim all their children excel at is taking tests. These ideas beg the question of why children cheat, and they highlight concerns about the necessity and usefulness of tests.

Becoming a good student is an action that cannot be shared. It is self-imposed, for the most part, and it implies the challenge and pursuit of excellence is worth the battle.  How a student comes upon this motivation isn't as important as how it is maintained. Long-term goals must overshadow cheating and the opportunity for short-term gain.

Cheating and deceit are unusual in that, by their nature, they create false expectations and a deepening of the dependency on cheating.  If a student is doing well on his or her work by cheating and the parent or teacher does not find out, the expectations for that child are increased.  This puts more pressure on the student.  In Colorado, some 80 percent of prison inmates have learning disorders. Why Students Cheat 

Perhaps many of these prisoners were not properly diagnosed because they felt it was easier to cheat.  This is also born out of the fact that Whitley (1998) found past cheating to be among the strongest predictors of future cheating. Collegiate Academic Dishonesty Revisited 

It is no secret many parents rely on grades as the most important indicator of a child’s educational success, and this is reflected in bumper stickers proclaiming honor roll status. Unfortunately, this attitude also has a negative effect, as students become grade oriented instead of learning oriented.  They select the easiest teachers, the easiest classes, and avoid opportunities to be challenged or to take academic risks. This attitude could result in lingering dependency on parents and running away from situations and relationships if maturity, guidance and understanding are not offered.

Cheating is not unusual, with studies indicating more than 70 percent of university students admit to having done so.  But when it becomes prevalent and encouraged by the results, it cannot be valued.

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Who Cheats

First, studies indicate that males are more likely to cheat.

Second, students involved in a lot of extracurricular activities are more prone to cheat due to time constraints.  If there is little time left to study and do school work because of music, dance, sports and clubs, common sense says the child is not going to be well prepared.

Next, studies indicate inferior students are more likely to be unprepared and resort to cheating to avoid concerns from parents.

Fourth, if the student does not like the subject or teacher, they are more likely to cheat.  In other words, they are simply not motivated or challenged.  And if a child sees others cheat, complains about it and nothing is done, they are more likely to cheat themselves.

Fifth, if a child's friends cheat, they tend to behave similarly to gain favor or to reduce the edge of dishonesty by surrounding themselves with others of similar standards.

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Parent Actions

Ironically, of those that act to deceive, most know cheating is wrong.  But they carry out the deed to impress others.  This is a tantalizing slant on an emotional issue, but one a caring parent can help eliminate by not having false expectations for their child.  Parents can also provide guidance to avoid cheating and to understand what actions to take when others try to take advantage of their student.

What else can a parent do?

• Keep track of all returned test papers in a file.  This helps the child get organized and enables a parent to quickly note any unusual answers or grade patterns.
• Don't ask about grades; ask what the child is learning. Yes, grades are important, but if a student isn't learning anything, that’s worse.
• Get involved with homework. Help students prepare for class daily even if it is just reminding them of a future assignment or helping them with a mnemonic device for a difficult lesson.
• Draw realistic guidelines for your children when it comes to honesty and the satisfaction of doing a job well, even if it is a tedious one.