Cause And Effect Of Cheating In College

I was taught not to cheat the moment my feet touched the classroom. In grade school, we are told that cheating is a bad thing to do. In high school, cheating was a poorly kept secret among the student population. In college, cheating is a temptation that students must abstain from in order to receive the best possible education that they can. Taking the honest path will ultimately benefit students the most by practicing positive traits like honesty, and integrity. However, the pressure to succeed in a classroom setting has become so intense that some students have begun cheating for a variety of reasons. Although I have never cheated myself, I can honestly see the appeal in taking shortcuts when deadlines pile up with no end in sight. Critics of those who cheat can easily point at a cheating student and discuss how poor of a student they are, but the critics never stop to consider the amount of pressure a student truly is under. Cheating has always been considered a terrible act that shows poor character, however, what acts are considered cheating and are not are often fuzzy to students. …show more content…
Peering over a student's shoulder during a big test to peak at their answers is a prime example of cheating. The cheating student would then turn in those answers as if they were their own to receive whatever grade the student who had worked honestly deserved. In the University of South Florida's Academic Affairs' document about cheating, titled "Academic Integrity of Students," clearly lists every way a student can be seen as cheating. Other examples of academic dishonesty include forgery, obstruction, and plagiarism (Academic Affairs, p.g. 5-6). The consequences of using dishonest ways to pass class are extremely