Does anyone else feel that cheating is a huge problem?

Pre-College Topics High School Cafe
1

At my school, I have not noticed a single person who has not participated in cheating. Students do not cheat off of each other on tests, but rather they find a way to use their notes on a test. In chemistry, we were allowed to use our phones for calculators. Students would turn the brightness all the way down and use pictures of the notes on the test.

The biggest cheating problem is on homework. Students form groups where they would rotate who would do the homework and would share the answers with the rest of the group. Math homework is usually not an issue, but in English, science, and history classes, I notice it a lot more. There have been times when one person did a homework assignment and it got passed down from one person to another until the entire class had the answers from one single person. The answers were wrong, and luckily for the students, the assignment was only graded for completion.

The sad part is that none of this is seen as cheating. These tactics have been set in stone since 7th grade, and I do not see it changing in the future. I did not even think of any of this as truly cheating until I asked a friend to send me a picture of an assignment that I simply did not feel like doing. I do not go a day without hearing someone ask another person for the homework. I feel this is an even larger problem among the smartest students since they are such a close-knit group and they are all involved in many ECs.

Teachers do not seem to be discouraging this behavior either. When a student is caught copying someone else’s homework (in a different class while we are supposed to be learning) nothing happens. The teacher tells them to put it away, and that is that. I feel terrible that I also participated in this behavior for so long, but at the same time, it felt normal. I never saw it as a problem, and neither does the majority of the school. I am happy to say that I have done the majority of my work on my own, but I am sorry to admit that I always give out my homework to other students when I am asked.

Students with nearly perfect GPAs do this on a daily basis. These students are extremely smart and have so much potential, but after years of cheating, they often believe that they would be failing a class if they did not cheat. I know that this is not the reality for the large majority of students, but cheating has made them feel less smart, causing them to cheat even more.

Does this happen in any other schools? In my school, there are about 30 students that take mostly honors classes, and therefore we have all become close over the years. That may be part of the reason that it has become such a huge issue in my school. These students care about their grades. They care enough to cheat. Many students I know do not even care about their grades enough to cheat because they’d rather spend 5 minutes on their phone than 5 minutes copying homework.

But at the same time, these students have never really encountered a time when someone was punished for cheating. They have seen no consequences for their actions, and therefore they believe it is okay. I am sorry for the long post, but I was just wondering if anyone else has seen anything like this or if it is only at my school.

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Students that cheat on homework aren’t going to do as well on the tests. It is a lot harder to cheat on tests so students are more likely to just cheat on homework. They are obviously not helping themselves and it could hurt them in the long run.

3

We live in a generation where if you write down the question on “google” you’ll instantly get an answer.

Although many people use google to give themselves an idea of what other students say. Writing their answer won’t help you understand the concept.

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Or they could just look it up online. Honestly, homework is nothing to make a fuss over.

I also don’t think it really matters if they use notes on their tests, when it comes time for the AP exams or the SAT, they will get what is right.

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@carmen00 Hey, Carmen. I completely understand what you’re feeling. I also feel cheating is a big problem at my school. I almost thought about creating another thread because of it. Almost 3/4 of my grade in school cheats off homework, tests, and even projects! Almost all of the kids in my classes who are at the top of the ranks cheat on tests and HW, but there are still some kids who really work hard and make it there without doing it.

Because I’m in the same situation, I’m not really sure what to say, but the best thing I can say is that I think of something which helps me ease myself when cheating is happening. I hope it works for you too. When kids cheat all the time, they are actually not helping themselves because even if they don’t pay the price in high school, they will pay it at college. From what I’ve heard, colleges generally kick you out once they catch you cheating. When I realize that it’s best to completely learn the information, not only because it’s the morally right thing to do but also because it will help me long term to not cheat.

I can understand your guilt because I would feel the same way if I was you. I tend to become very guilty easily. You’re not alone, and it’s a great thing you realized what was wrong. I think cheating is a common problem everywhere, nowadays.

Have a good day!

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I notice it a lot at my school, yes. However, I don’t really think it’s a big issue. If you don’t want to cheat, don’t do it. Students who cheat will have consequences of their own come tests/quizzes/AP exams. I go to a school with 5,000 students so cheating is inevitable it seems.
Unlike your school though, there are major consequences if you’re caught copying someone else’s homework during class. The teacher could call your parents, you could get referrals, getting 0s on homework, etc.
I honestly don’t have a problem with others cheating, unless they bug me to send the homework I do.
Last year, I was a part of a huge APUSH group chat that just sent the study guide answers and my teacher never checked. However, the students that copied were the same ones that failed so joke is on them.

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The doing well on tests thing isn’t true a lot of the time I know a lot of people who are just naturally smart and get the concepts easily in class, don’t do any of their own homework, and then get As or high Bs on tests.

A lot of cheating is on the students but I think teachers are partially to blame. By assigning random study guides and not checking them its so easy to get them online or from someone else and if a smart kid doesn’t have 2 hours available to outline a whole chapter that’s what they’re going to do. I literally did this for almost every single APUSH outline because they were so tedious and unnecessary and every single person got a 5/5. After I was done just copying and pasting my outline, I never looked at it again and studied class notes for test. I got an A on every single test without doing the homework 75% of the time.

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Agreed @a20171 - If teachers didn’t give ridiculous homework that they’re not even going to check, there would not be nearly as much cheating going on in the schools.

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@a20171 Agreed on the doing well on tests. For some people, it does just come naturally. Some of my friends do no homework but still have straight A’s. Honestly, good for them if they can mange to understand concepts without practice. For a good many of them, the homework is, like you said, time-consuming, boring, and/or easy.

For looking stuff up online, the line between cheating and not cheating is very blurred. Many of my teachers expect us to look up answers online on some assignments, but not others. I often search up concepts I do not understand online. My opinion is that if you can explain the concept/problem in your own words, you have learned it, even if the internet/ a friend retaught it to you (if that makes sense). In the end, it is whatever helps you understand the homework.