In a survey of 24,000 students at 70 high schools, Donald McCabe (Rutgers University) found that 64 percent of students admitted to cheating on a test, 58 percent admitted to plagiarism and 95 percent said they participated in some form of cheating, whether it was on a test, plagiarism or copying homework.
Source: www.plagiarism.org
Yes we’re talking about cheating in tests here, keeping other variants of the crime for later.
There were times when cheating in tests was a shameful act. The very few practitioners of the same used to carry out the deed in a very secretive way so to evade being spotted. But these days, it’s a fast world they say. The students have gone too much into the act since their middle school that there is no worry, shame, faze or any other repentful feeling. As they claim, it is their “Janam Sidh Adhikaar”. Can there be any more absurd statement? It is a part of their skills and ability they say. They do it with pride and brag about it later as if they’ve made an achievement.
The fastest teams are made and got working immediately at examination centers. Unknown students from different sections/classes/schools but with same exam that day are a team already. They’ve never met before but in no more than 3 minutes they are done meeting up and start the collaborative task of cheating.
Why they do it?
Because they weren’t stopped when they did it for the first time. This is a very well thought answer to the question. A student cheats for the first time after getting a lot of encouragement from mates. Other reasons include pressure to succeed, no time to study, peer pressure, laziness, and the list goes on.
Why don’t they stop?
Because they’ve found an easy way to bypass hard work. This way they can accomplish things which, otherwise, would take them 5X more time, effort and strength. The company of a person is really a big thing in this matter. Another reason is lack of self-respect. But this reason could’ve been stated in the earlier time. These days the students have an illusion in their mind that cheating better earns them respect with their peers. Even parents do not oppose the practice, and turn a blind eye as long as their child makes good grades.
The social media has a great effect on how a person is in real life. People unknowingly promote this cowardly crime by publishing quotes like, “Don’t work hard, work smart. Cheating in a test is not a bad thing, getting caught is.”. For a student of middle school this line would make sense and make him believe that he’s smart if he cheats in tests. There goes another good soul into the foul well.
To stop is not in everyone’s control. There has been a survey which reported that 80% of the people who accepted using malpractices in tests had been doing that since their childhood and no one had ever stopped them, except the invigilator. So if you’ve grown up doing something it begins to feel normal and you can’t simply give it up. “Old habits die hard”, remember?
How to stop?
First of all, decide to stop. Secondly, stick with your decision. Stay strong.
Self-control is the key. If you can control your desires, you can control the world. Take a decision not to cheat in any test, even if you fail. Take that failure as the motivation to study harder next time. Remind yourself that mastered temptation and kept your hands clean by not cheating. Cheating is easy people, do something more challenging, try being truthful. It will be hard to abstain from this if you grew up around cheat applauding company and even your parents didn’t care about how you were getting those A+s in your tests. What you are actually doing is just making yourself believe that you have the knowledge but in reality you’re way behind your grades.
What if you don’t get an A+? You did not cheat atleast. Appreciate yourself that you didn’t choose to give up. You kept your collar clean. It’s all your hard work.
Everybody has their own way to stop cheating, or to stop any bad habit. In this case, some take lessons from each time they score less by not cheating and study harder next time.
Some like to brag about the rare tag of “No he doesn’t cheat in tests” which they eventually earn when others notice that they’ve stopped cheating in exams. They like being different and being among the rare types is what gives them satisfaction and motivation to keep their tag. This is the actual thing that needs to be bragged about. This is the real rare skill which shows how self-disciplined you are.
Some do it by promising it to their parents or close ones. But then promises are just a word given, if you are a strong enough you will keep your word otherwise lose respect for not keeping it.
Benefiting from others’ hard work is parasitical behavior. Be good, stand on your own. Have the courage to go against the flow. Get rid of this self destructive habit. Pronto.
