<p>This is nice. I don't cheat, and I get so angry when others use shortcuts to "earn" what I actually work for.</p>
<p>But a girl who cheated from eighth grade to junior year (I don't know about senior year) on almost every test is going to Harvard next year.</p>
<p>what a bunch of damn hypocrites</p>
<p>CFG is correct, sometimes the students that are cheating are doing so because of too much pressure at home. I feel so sorry for one friend of my son. He's a nice bright kid, but not straight A material. He must get straight A's or his mom just blows a gasket. So he cheats. Sad really sad. We spend alot of time talking to the kids about that. As much as deep inside I'd love for the boys to get all As and I really want to believe they can... they know that their dad and I will also be proud of a B that was received if they gave truly gave their best effort. There's a difference between those kids under that kind of unnecessary duress and slackers.</p>
<p>
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CFG is correct, sometimes the students that are cheating are doing so because of too much pressure at home.
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<p>so cheating because you have "too much pressure" on you is justified?</p>
<p>Cheating is never justified. </p>
<p>My favorite quote ever:
"Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind."</p>
<p>I don't care what's going on your life, cheating is never the answer. Cheating takes away any ounce of self-respect that you might have ever had, which is the one thing that no one else can never can take away from you. If you strip yourself of that, what do you have left?</p>
<p>I agree with aviatrix completely. By saying that others are justified because "there's just so much pressure on them," that implies that there's no pressure on anybody else. What about those people who actually do work hard and succeed under all of that pressure, or are at least willing to try? They might fail, while the cheater would succeed on paper. Is it really justified that the one who tried goes to a community college while the cheater goes to HYP (an exaggerated exmple, but still)? You say that we shouldn't compete with others, but honestly, there are only so many job openings in the world, so many spaces in college. If you were to never be competitive, you would never get anywhere.</p>
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After all, you can cheat in school, but you can't cheat in life.
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<p>While I applaud the theme here, and as much as I wish it were true, this statement is simply false. Happens every day, everywhere, on many levels. Call me a cynic, though.</p>
<p>Eventually, however, cheating will catch up with you when you're on the job and someone asks you something, or you're required to do something, and you don't know how because you cheated on that chapter. While it's true that it might not happen for a while, someone is going to see right through the cheater eventually.</p>
<p>problem is, there are no objective chapters/operating manuals for "life" or "job". Which basically gets back to the integrity thing and becomes pretty circular.</p>
<p>My favorite quote:</p>
<p>Integrity is doing the right thing, even if nobody is watching.</p>
<p>No, of course academic pressure isn't an excuse or justification for cheating. All students find themselves under the gun at times. I was merely trying to point out that jealousy of a cheater's apparent success is pointless because 1) the person is damaging his psychological health 2) he will eventually get caught and 3) he may be suffering deeply from grade-dependent acceptance/love from his parents.</p>
<p>Does it really matter unless the person can get the grade if they tried? Let's say there is a very easy homework assignment, but he forgot to do it. It's ok if he copies it 10 minutes before class right?
But tests, I can understand. If they get a good score and brag about it...</p>
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Let's say there is a very easy homework assignment, but he forgot to do it. It's ok if he copies it 10 minutes before class right?
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</p>
<p>Um....no. It's still cheating. If he forgot to do it, then that's his problem. He needs to become more organized or something. At my school, copying homework is just as serious as cheating on an exam. Cheating is cheating, not matter how you dice it.</p>
<p>I don't think taking the easy way in some things is wrong. We have to look out for ourselves...I mean I'm all for helping people who need it, but I am definitely looking out for myself. If I forget to do my homework one night and my friend offers to let me copy, I will. I am more happy getting the 100 on my homework that day than "doing the right thing", not doing my homework, getting a 0, and losing my integrity. I don't think constantly slacking and cheating your way through high school is the right thing to do, and I don't do it, but I would and have minorly "cheated" before. Copying homework really isn't that big of a deal, it really hurts the person copying more by not learning it right?...so let them. Now, copying an entire test is different..that's pretty bad.</p>
<p>You almost always destinguish those who know the material and those who cheat for their grades by the knowledge they have. A person with a 4.0 over a 3.75 but with less knowledge shows he is either a very hard worker but stupid or a cheater.</p>
<p>Maysixxmom: i like that quote.
"Integrity is doing the right thing, even when nobody is watching"
That made me smile :)</p>
<p>I realize that there will always be cheaters in this world. And even THOUGH you do well for yourself, not to beat others. The world is unfair becuase when ti comes down to the end. EVEN if the colleges they go to shouldn't matter. It STILL makes a difference to the kids who TRIED but couldn't get in BECAUSE a cheater took their position. It's just not fair. I know i'm preaching the 'it's so unfair' and may sound whiney. I know the world is unfair, but this is just wrong. I wish it could stop, to those with integrity.. keep strong. no matter how much bad goes on around you. I feel you. i feel you</p>
<p>don't u guys believe in a g-d? shouldn't g-d make sure these things work out alright? and come on, just stop whining. If you work hard and are good enough you are going to do fine anyways. If you tried your hardest, and a cheater did better than you, then you just aren't good enough.</p>
<p>1) Faith in God doesn't mean all problems are always solved.</p>
<p>2) Cheaters are unjust. Period. There's nothing wrong with a post descrbing the anger with cheaters, and the tribute to integrity.</p>
<p>3) So if you study hard, miss a single math question because of a miscalculated number, and get a 790, and a cheater somehow gets all of the answers (after doing no preparation whatsoever), and gets an 800, is it because you're not good enough? Saying that a cheater beating you makes you inadequate is pure fallacy. Cheaters doing better than you doesn't make you inadequate because the cheater cheated. And depending on the situation, cheating is exponentially easier many times.</p>
<p>need800 does have a point in the sense that there are laws in this present world, one of which is that you will reap what you sow. Harvest time does not happen the day after you plant, so the results of our actions often take time to manifest themselves. That cheater will temporarily look great and receive some benefit. My front lawn has a lot of weeds, which when they were young looked nice and thick and green. But after a few weeks when those dandelions and ragweed went to seed, it looked awful. After some time, there was no mistaking what had been growing all along. It will be the same way with the cheater, and his true nature will come to light--if not in this life then in the next.</p>
<p>At least for Christians, believing in God means we know that there will be that day of reckoning when everyone will have to give an account of their actions. If God punished every human misdeed immediately, which of us would survive more than a day or two? No one would, so He shows mercy, and gives us time to learn His ways and learn from our mistakes. But, the Bible also says God is not mocked. Ultimately, no one ever "gets away" with anything.</p>
<p>So, while the above may not change a current situation in which a cheater has been rewarded over an honest person, it should at least give us some comfort. </p>
<p>.</p>
<p>Kudos for a terrific post!</p>
<p>Back in high school, when I was surrounded by students who would cheat on exams, copy homework assignments and generally let others do their work while taking credit, I used to tell myself that what goes around, comes around. I waited impatiently for the day when it would all catch up with the cheaters. </p>
<p>Years later, after much disappointment, I can only hope that something inside all of these folks is just eating away at them, because unfortunately, not one of them has every suffered any repercussions for their actions. One particular student from high school comes to mind. He was a really bright student. For whatever reason, though, he decided to cheat on honors classes exams with regularity, to copy homework from whatever student would let him and to sponge off of other hardworking students, like me (we were once working together on a significant feature-length article for the school newspaper, which he managed to get a byline on, despite the fact that he did absolutely no work -- the teacher acquiesced despite my protests). He want to an Ivy league school, and is now a very successful investment banker, living large in NYC. I'm not surprised, I guess, because he is a very bright guy, but where is the justice? He is probably just as shady today as he was back in high school.</p>
<p>I also know of several instances where students in college and law school were caught red-handed and brought up on charges of plagarism. In every case, the students were bright and had good grades, and in every case, they escaped expulsion for one wishy-washy reason after another (though at least a few have notations that were placed on their transcripts). I think that schools are loathe to expel an otherwise bright student with good grades because the schools "don't want to ruin someone's life". I have also seen these very students go on to tremendous success getting into graduate schools and in their careers. </p>
<p>It's frustrating. Until society takes the punishment of integrity violations in school seriously, the problems will continue. You only have to look as far as Enron, Tyco and WorldCom to see where these types of attitudes lead.</p>