When Did Cheating Become Acceptable?

Did you cheat when you were in school? Odds are you did, and if you're older, odds are you got punished if you got caught. I remember cheating twice, once in high school and once in college. I chose The Agony and the Ecstasy for my independent reading project as a senior in high school, not realizing what a ponderous volume it was. I read the first half and skimmed the last. As it happened, in my oral book report session, Charlie Hardy, my English teacher, asked me only questions to which I knew the answers. In college, I wrote a short story that closely paralleled one I had read. My instructor had read that story too. He let me off the hook, choosing to believe that I was merely trying to write a story like the one I had plagiarized. He was wrong: I was being dishonest. Although I escaped being punished both times, I felt bad enough about my behavior to stop after the second incident.
In June, 2002, the Josephson Institute of Ethics conducted a survey among 12,000 high school students. Their finding was that 74% of those students admitted to cheating on an exam. Any teacher knows that most kids are going to risk a “short cut” occasionally. It is the rest of the survey's results that are truly disturbing. Thirty-eight percent of the students admitted to retail theft. Thirty-nine percent admitted they would lie to get a good job. Eight-one percent admitted they lie to their teachers.
The traditional beliefs about who cheats and who doesn't have been shown to be false by the survey. Student athletics are believed to help shape moral young people, but more varsity athletes cheat than their non-athletic classmates. Parochial schools pride themselves on teaching moral values, but parochial students are more likely to cheat in school and lie to their parents than their public school counterparts.
The sad truth is that when students cheat it's because we let them. By “we,” I mean teachers, administrators and parents. In many public schools, students who are caught cheating are allowed to do the assignment over, usually for reduced credit. An acquaintance of mine who teaches as an adjunct for a college told me that if a student there is accused of cheating, the instructor must prove it and find two other students who will corroborate his findings. Many parents, mistaking covering up for their children for protecting them, will protest vehemently when their son or daughter is accused, threatening legal action.
The cynicism shown by students is alarming. In 2002, 43% of students surveyed agreed with the statement, “A person has to lie or cheat sometimes in order to succeed.” Ironically, 76% said, “When it comes to doing what is right, I am better than most people I know,” and 95% felt, “It is important to me that people trust me.”
How did this “blurring” of what is right and wrong happen? Part of the problem is that many people won't use the words “lie” or “cheat.” Some of us remember when Richard Nixon “misspoke” himself. Bill Clinton weaseled around the concept of infidelity. Athletic heroes are in the news often for steroid abuse. Paris Hilton is hauled off to jail (for the second time) screaming, “It's not fair.” Public officials take bribes, clergymen hire prostitutes and abuse children, and parents brag about cheating on their taxes or “getting away” with something.
The result is that most students see cheating as “no big deal.” Students don't seem to understand the importance of education or even know what it means. Grades are the means to the ends: a diploma or a degree and a good job. Of course, once the students who cheated and lied their way to those jobs cannot perform the tasks required of them, the real fallout from cheating becomes apparent.
Teachers can help stem the problem by constructing assignments that make it difficult for their students to cheat. When I taught composition, my students' papers had to be accompanied by their notes, a rough draft and a first revision. Administrators need to get tough on cheaters. Students should not get a second chance. Believe me, if you have to swallow a “0” on an assignment, you'll think twice before you cheat again. Parents have to admit that their kids can make mistakes and back up teachers. Threatening to call your attorney is not going to make your child's dishonesty disappear.
Finally, it is up to all schools, public or parochial, to teach students moral values. The concepts of honesty, fairness, integrity, and industry need to be reinforced in our curricula, since they seem to be dying out in our society.