Advanced Placement-Advanced Pressures: Academic Dishonesty Among Elite High School Students

In the world today it seems to be almost common knowledge that extracurricular activities help rather than hinder the growth and development of adolescents as they mature into adulthood. Being involved in sports, clubs, and having part-time jobs can help people to become better at things like time management and has been proven to be a contributing factor to higher grades in school and being better leaders in society. However, many do not consider that extracurricular activities and being involved in programs that force students to go above and beyond actually can have adverse effects on their development. The articles used to consider the negative side to extracurricular activities explored the pressures put on students in Advanced Placement …show more content…
The study was unique in the way that it did not only look at the ways students cheated but asked the students themselves how and most importantly why they decided to cheat. The main goal of the study was to see how the pressure the students felt from teachers, parents, and peers pushed them to cheat and the means by which they justified their cheating. Sixty minute interviews were conducted in local libraries to gather information from the 32 high school students involved in the study which was conducted in the Denver area using students from six high schools. The students were 12 juniors and 20 seniors of whom 18 were male and 14 were female. The students were considered to be in the top 10% of their class. The main finding of the study was that cheating among peers was a common practice. In interviews students were quoted saying, “Even the best students I know occasionally cheat”. Others reported saying that cheating is justified in a number of ways which include copying because there was not enough time to complete an assignment, the student did not understand the assignment and there is pressure to have a certain GPA and keep a class ranking, pressure from parents, and attempting to uphold a social status. Many did not consider copying from another student to be a severe form of cheating and they also considered that keeping their class rank and social status was more important than doing the assignment on their own. Being in advanced placement programs puts kids into a social group that is labeled as the “smart” kids. This is where these kids feel they fit in rather than being a part of the stereotypical jocks, preps, or drama kids. The students in advanced placement classes feel that every test and every project is a time to prove themselves and if