Cheaters Finish Last
I often spend hours studying for a test; cramming as much information as I can into my brain, just to regurgitate it on a few pieces of paper. It feels great to get those test papers back with a bright red “A” written at the top of the test. The hard work is rewarding. But I’ll get angry when I realize that another kid in the class got the same grade by cheating. Were those hours studying spent in vain when I could have found ways to cheat? Never!
The forms of cheating I noticed in high school were usually crafted during lunch hours. From copying homework to borrowing tests from previous years, kids found quick ways to cut corners. It’s hard to believe that teachers didn’t crack down on these cheating rings when I was in high school. Sure, it must be tough for teachers to sniff out these students, but isn’t cheating detrimental? I feel that the grading system in school reflects how hard one works at that subject. By not working hard to learn the material well, people who cheat their way through school will not have the necessary skills to be successful in the future. I’ve heard people tell me this many times, and as cliché as it sounds, it’s true. Would I want to have a surgeon who cheated his or her way through medical school to operate on me? I’m sure I’m not the only one would be scared of that surgeon. Actually, I’d love to see where some of my classmates are in life twenty years from now. That way, I’ll know for sure if I’m right about the long term problems with cheating. Haha, isn’t scheming fun?
Now, I can’t say that teachers at my high school didn’t do anything about cheating. Not all forms of cheating existed either. Cheating at my high school did not consist of people copying SparkNotes commentaries and pasting them into their To Kill a Mockingbird analysis papers. Plagiarism didn’t really exist in my English classes because we had a handy tool called turnitin.com. That website was wonderful at doing its job of comparing students’ papers to a multitude of sources on the internet. Therefore, no one could get away with that kind of plagiarism. Maybe that helped foster better writing skills at my school. In fact, a lot of my classmates were fantastic at writing. According to Wikipedia’s article on my high school, Naperville Central, my school’s newspaper has won many awards including some National Pacemaker Awards. The creativity of these students had to come from their own brains—not stolen from someone else.
Looking back on my days in high school, I’ve seen kids cheat on exams and others work hard to get their grade. I can’t say for sure that cheaters at my high school will be unsuccessful in the future since I haven’t come across any data to support my argument, but it’s highly likely. I just have to look at the students I’ve known who don’t cheat. They are the ones that have been the leaders and high achievers at my school. Why can’t teachers use services like LON-CAPA to prevent kids from copying homework or cheating on exams? Just by customizing homework and exams, all students would be forced to learn the material. That way, kids would have solid foundations and the hours of studying would be worth it. I’m sure cheaters will be thankful in the future when actual learning offers the reward of getting ahead in life.
Comments
Posted by: franco
Posted on: August 30, 2007 10:57 AM
I've never heard of LON CAPA, but it certainly would help dissuade kids from cheating. Long term, do you think these cheaters from your high school will learn their lesson or will they just continue their cheating ways, possibly becoming that surgeon that everyone fears lied his way through med school? I'd like to think that cheating only gets you to a certain point, beyond which only real academic intelligence can help you succeed, you know?
Posted by: Zach
Posted on: August 31, 2007 11:50 AM
In the long run, I can't say for sure which way my classmates will go. I'm sure some will stop cheating while others will continue to do so. I wish I could agree with your point about how far cheating goes, but I believe that some people will still be able to cheat all the way to a career if they have the right connections. For example, during orientation week, there was a video on how a few people cheated on a test when they were in the military. There was an underground ring that supported those actions. Couldn't cheating rings like that continue for other people as well? It's an interesting thing to think about, but I wish I had some quantitative data to prove it.