<p>Well, sorry to disappoint, but I honestly wouldn’t. You can believe me or not, but this is the internet, so I have nothing to gain by lying. I refuse to cheat. </p>
<p>Sure, people do what they can to get what they want all the time. That includes stealing and murdering to get what they want. Cheating’s not on that level (depending on the kind of cheating), but yeah, it is a question of morals. There’s really no reason to cheat. Maybe .0001% of people who cheat actually truly gain something from it. Someone who cheats normally doesn’t win 1 million bucks, they get a better grade on a test, which really isn’t life changing. </p>
<p>@immasenior - I was not talking about “grown-up world”- I was talking about high school - and teachers tend to be more forgiving when 15 year olds slip up than executives at investment banks are of their subordinates. I’m not so coddled that I feel like the whole world will cater to me the way my teachers did when I was a Sophomore.</p>
<p>And - if there were other people competing for that million dollar reward, I would not cheat. If I do not know the answer, I don’t deserve to be rewarded for pretending to know it. Honor is not some pseudo-superiority complex; our nation was founded on the principle that we are a meritocracy and that those with merit are rewarded accordingly - cheating grossly distorts this entire premise. </p>
<p>LOL, like @eerboco said - I’m a little concerned as to what lengths you’d abandon your morals for a paycheck. If you upped the ante to, say, 10 million, would you be so inclined to steal a car? What about 50 million? Kidnapping? </p>
<p>As I said before, I think everyone does ethically questionable things, especially for money, but it’s not usually as obvious as cheating to find the answer to a million-dollar question. For example, I regularly perpetuate factory farming by working at McDonald’s. </p>
<p>@immasenior keepin it real
It seems like everyone here believes in taking the moral high ground and talking about moral obligation. Feels like Confucianism. </p>
<p>@halcyonheather - Yeah, I know no one is morally perfect - even popes have had their moments - (Wasn’t Pope Francis part of Hitler Youth as a child?) - anyway:
I think that working at McDonald’s or buying clothes from boutiques that have been rumored to have unfair labor conditions overseas or anything that is nuanced and complex is more of an ethical gray area than downright stealing an exam, changing grades on a school database, plagiarizing a work, etc. - because for instance, you could be employed at McDonald’s because you’re a teenager without a diploma/degree and you need to support your siblings, or a sick relative, or even yourself - there may be some compulsory need or imperative at play that could override the ethical questions associated with it - but no one actually needs to cheat. It is never life or death (in high school). </p>
<p>@SwaggyC - Isn’t Confucianism mostly about patriarchal hierarchy in the home and governmental bureaucracy? Unless you’re talking about the credentialism of bureaucratic examinations? </p>
<p>@dsi411
They found an advantage in the system and they are taking advantage of it. I’m not trying to support cheating, but you guys make it seem like those who do are dirt and unethical, soulless beings. </p>
I wouldn’t call it “moral high ground,” though I suppose it technically is. I just believe in doing what’s right. Do I always do what’s right? No. I’m not a terrific person. But I’ve always been someone who’s kept to my values, one of which is being honest. </p>
<p>I’m not saying people who do cheat are dirt and soulless (but yeah, at least slightly unethical), but I believe they are wrong. Some people only cheat once or twice on a test, which definitely isn’t terrible…people who try to cheat on the SATs and at a higher level…they’re a little worse. </p>
<p>@SwaggyC
Cheating is unethical - there are a lot of things that are unethical. Just because there are some things which are far worse morally than cheating, like, say, mass genocide, it does not mean that cheating is no longer unethical. We all have our flaws - but we shouldn’t strive to make cheating seem like a good thing - or that we should encourage kids to abandon learning and grade grub with crib sheets. Cheating isn’t an advantage - a student who cheats his or her way through high school will carry those habits with them to college, and eventually, to their career - let us hope that you are never under the knife of a surgeon who never actually studied for a single anatomy test in his life.</p>
<p>@SwaggyC: I don’t see cheaters that way. I do see them as a bit “lost” (Are they pressured? overwhelmed? angry at life? desperate? attention seekers? lacking in ability? trying to compete with peers? worried about finances? trying to look “cool”? ) </p>
<p>I think about ADULT cheaters: big CEO’s who swindle hard earned cash from people, athletes using steroids, politicians rewarding contributors with perks, partners cheating on spouses, gas station owners raising prices during storms, etc. Usually cheating is trying to compensate for something that is lacking in some way in someone’s life. </p>
<p>I am more concerned with teen cheaters because it is a symptom that SOMETHING is wrong somewhere, and left unchecked, could lead to adults with similar issues. </p>
<p>@aperez1998 - The girl had a small device which was reading off answers - the teacher heard but was unable to pinpoint it to one person since the girl sat way in the back and there were people around her. </p>
<p><em>tch</em> this, smh I don’t get it… if i was a student that sat beside her, let’s just say i’d be irked and tell her off right there and than! You guys all know the toil we face to study for these exams, i would probably tell her off quietly though, or pretend i need help with some paper or what not so the teacher can be more aware of the circumstances. It’s unnecessary to drag this out it just makes everything worse </p>
<p>Cheating is fine. It’s a something that is developed alongside study habits and social skills. Cheaters who don’t get caught demonstrate their practice. Cheaters who do demonstrate their incompetence. Morals are completely irrelevant to the discussion about cheating.</p>
<p>I honestly think cheating is more susceptible to Honors/AP/IB classes than any of the other classes.
It should normally be the other way around but in reality it isn’t
ESPECIALLY HW LOL</p>
<p>Cheating ain’t a million dollar decision, but it can hold some weight. It can be the difference between acceptance and rejection to a school. For some, that itself is worth a million bucks.</p>
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