Ethics

Cheating is as old as any unethical conduct one can think of. It has existed for decades for several different reasons, and exists in many different forms. And, just like every other unethical decision, cheating has evolved over time and so have the methods of cheating, and the related consequences of cheating.

Cheating on exams used to involve simple and obvious gestures like craning the neck to peek at the answers of the student sitting next to you, switching papers across tables, passing notes under the tables, writing notes in the palm of ones hand or on ones shirt sleeve. Today, cheating is not as obvious and easy to detect as it used to be. This, of course, is mainly because students currently study in a technologically advanced environment with vast availability of information online  essays, articles, and so on  making it much easier and convenient for students to cheat without thinking of the consequences of getting caught.

There are several reasons why students cheat on exams, the most common reason being the desire to pass their required courses with an acceptable grade point average. The grade point average is usually the yard stick used to measure academic success and acceptability in the world outside of college these days. Almost every employer seeks jobseekers fresh out of college based on their academic performance among other things. Students seeking admission to graduate school may find that a minimum grade point average is required, and they may find themselves under pressure to cheat if they see no other way to make the required grades.

Cheating occurs when a student is involved in exam practices that are considered unacceptable according to the standards set by an examiner or by school policy. So that, where it may be acceptable in one case to read your notes during an exam (open-book exam), it may be totally unacceptable and considered cheating in a different setting (closed-book exam).

Needless to say, cheating has consequences that can affect a person for the rest of their life, just like any other unethical conduct has its consequences. Some consequences may be immediate while others wont be felt till later down the road in life. Some immediate consequences could be disciplinary measures imposed by school administration policies. Consequences that take longer to have an impact may come long after a student has graduated and moved on in life only to find out that the decisions he or she made earlier have come back to haunt them years later.

The most serious consequence a student could face for cheating on an exam is the possibility of being expelled from school. A student who cheats on an exam also risks the embarrassment and shame that goes with being exposed, not to mention the damage cheating can do to their reputation. Other students will now see you as nothing more than a liar and a cheat. This label or reputation has the potential to follow a student for a very long time, and some labels are simply not worth the risk no matter how tempting it may be in the moment.

Cheating has a tendency to lead to more serious behaviors down the road. A student who repeatedly gets away with cheating may begin to think of themselves as untouchable. This can lead them into more serious and more frequent acts of unethical behavior that could follow them into adulthood and into the corporate world, like cheating in other areas of life, the consequences of which could be a lot more serious than mere academic suspension or expulsion. Students who cheat on their exams need to understand that they the risks involved are not worth the cost. Cheaters do themselves more harm than good because they tend to learn a lot less than their colleagues who actually study the material for an exam. The process of studying and understanding course material is what determines how knowledgeable a student is, and will become throughout the rest of his or her life. An example is a student who cheats and ends up graduating magna cum laude but may find that they dont know much more than the student who put forth their best effort and graduated with a lesser grade. Such ignorance or lack of knowledge when displayed in the work place can have even more dire consequences especially when the knowledge portrayed in actual life is in conflict with the information on a students college transcript. Such consequences range from loss of a job, a demotion, a less than satisfactory performance review, embarrassment, and a bruised reputation.

What students need to understand is that the effort they put into studying course material and doing their best can be far more rewarding than that split second decision to cheat could ever be because the decision to cheat offers temporary success if they are lucky to get away with it, but choosing not to offers success that will last a life time. After all, whoever said knowledge is power, knew exactly what they were talking about because knowledge is indeed known to be powerful. Knowledge cannot be faked either you know, or you dont know  and you will never know by cheating. Spending four years, or more, in school - not to mention the huge amounts of money involved - is at least worth the effort to try to be as knowledgeable as one can be, come graduation day. It is worth the investment.