Many people cheat and you may not know because they are hiding that and might not show it. People cheat so they can get something good. For example, you have a hard test and you cheat and then you get a good grade which you don't deserve. Then probably you get chosen for a good school that you don't deserve. And finally you get a job that you don't deserve and you are also cheating on the people who deserve all that. That happens to a lot of people. You might see those people at your work and might see they do a lot of mistakes and they ask a friend how to do it. Then they might get used to it. Those are the people who are cheating in life. So whoever is reading this should learn a lesson. To the people who are cheating in their life, stop cheating.

Cheating is not good because when you cheat on a test you are getting grades you do not deserve. You are not only cheating yourself, you are also cheating some other people in that class who really deserve the grade you are getting. You are also cheating your mom and dad. When your parents see your grade, they think you are a very good person, but you are really hurting yourself and the other people including your parents. When people find out you were cheating, then you will wish you never cheated. Then later on if you get a good grade that you did not cheat on, people are going to think you cheated again.

Amen! I have taught high school biology for 24 years, yet I am continually dismayed at the cavalier way that students and their parents treat the issue of cheating.

A few years ago, I had a student whom I caught in a blatant plagiarism scheme. She had given her computer disk to a friend so the friend could adjust it a little and claim the work as her own. The problem was, neither of them used spell-check, and many of the key words were misspelled in precisely the same way. Up until then, I had considered their parents to be good parents. Their older daughter had been a top-notch student and an honest individual, and the father was a girls' softball coach at our school. But when I approached them with the evidence of their daughter's complicity, they came out with a number of excuses for her behavior: the daughter said she didn't do it; the evidence was not compelling enough; the daughter was not the beneficiary of the scheme; this problem was not as bad as other problems; etc, etc etc.

Unfortunately, I will never view this family in the same light. I even find myself questioning whether the older daughter was quite as good as I thought or whether she was just a better cheater.

Sad, isn't it?

I like this article. I have just recently heard teachers say to children that if they cheat, they are just cheating themselves. I feel children should be aware that when they cheat, they are affecting far many more people than just themselves. I am very thankful that my district has invested in a full-time character ed program in this middle school. I know it will take years of hard work, but children need to understand what it means to have good character. I know cheating will become less and the children who are tempted will think twice if they are aware that their actions will affect many others.

With so many young people and children being encouraged to get involved politically, maybe our politicians should be encouraged to let their yes be yes and their no be no. We have been teaching them that how they look and how they sound is more important than whether they are telling the truth or not. In politics, winning is everything these days, and how you win no longer seems to matter to anyone.

There is a saying "cheaters never prosper." Unfortunately, we have witnessed many cheaters who do prosper and prosper quite well. They prosper in our schools by getting better grades, they prosper in business by landing better jobs that come with greater compensation. The receive accolades for the work they do when in reality the work they do belongs to another. In the end, they are nothing more than the dictionary definition of a cheat - one who acts dishonestly and practices fraud. The question is why do they think it is okay? Perhaps it seems acceptable to them because it is commonly ignored and therefore implied as acceptable. They have re-defined cheating by stating they are being "resourceful." News flash: Resourceful people have capacity or ability. Cheaters are usually those who lack in these areas and therefore compromise their integrity and become information thieves. Just remember this: Once you are exposed as a thief, you will forever be remembered as a fraud.

Thomas Jefferson said, "Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom."

It is unfortunate that the system seems to encourage children to cheat. The comments from those who are surprised about cheating among children from better families illustrates my point.

If you live in a good neighborhood and go to a highly rated school, you may have a hard time being in the top 10% of your class, which means you may not get into a decent college. This is despite the fact that you are a very good student and very capable of doing college level work.

If you live in a poor neighborhood and are attending a so-so school, it can be pretty easy for a fairly good student to rank in the top 10% of their class. They will get into college even though they may not be as good a student as the one from the other school who did not make the cut. They will also find it difficult to handle college level work and will be more likely to drop out.

By setting the standard as the top 10%, colleges eliminate some kids who could do the work and admit others who are not ready or able to take on the requirements of college.

This is done in the interests of fairness, but I fail to see how comparing apples and oranges is a good system.

As I said at the beginning, I believe it encourages kids to cheat because they know if they don't, they will not get into college while less qualified kids from other schools will be admitted in their place.

What is Stephanie saying - that children in poorer schools with good grades shouldn't stand such a good chance of getting into college as the richer children who have better grades and won't drop out. It looks like she is saying that the poorer kids and not the richer kids are more likely to cheat. What a load of ...

We have created part of this dilemma. The days of essay tests or an oral quiz have went by the wayside due to our own desires as educators to find easier methods of correcting and cutting down our work load. Is it practical to grade 400 essays on a regular basis? But it creates a culture that the students must learn and retain the knowledge. Our society as a whole is concerned with the product and not the process. I always found that the race I ran one step at a time went by quicker than the one where I focused solely on the finish line. We have more control on our own teaching environment if we choose to model what we preach. Step 1 is to mow your own backyard before you comment on your neighbors. We need to start by controlling what we are able to control (the people we can individually affect).

Unfortunately, the kids and adults who are cheating are likely not reading any of your commentaries, Michael. Nor do they listen to the rest of us who try to uphold ideals of honesty and integrity. Is your estimate of "two thirds" of high school students admit to cheating accurate? If so, things are far worse than even I imagined, and I already thought things were bad! Thanks for doing what you do.

This was GREAT!
It really opened my eyes!