Epidemic Of Cheating

Cheating and academic dishonesty has become a significant problem at even some of the finest and most prestigious schools in the nation. This problem has turned to a sort of epidemic, with “between 75 and 98 percent of college students” admitting to have “cheated in high school” (Jaffe). This “cheating epidemic” especially comes at odds with the mission of integrity in learning of the education system put in place today (Andrade). And like in any other situation where rules are broken, cheating calls for a consequence. The conventional way of dealing with any form of cheating is a zero for that assignment, but nowadays teachers are looking towards a more harsh way to deal with the cheaters: fail them for the entire course. While this form of punishment has its benefits, failing the cheater

Society has a misconceived notion that the cheaters are only the slackers or the students struggling to pass, but in reality, the high-achieving students are the ones who cheat as well (Jaffe). This just shows that cheating isn’t limited to a certain type of student; people cheat for a variety of reasons. But instead of punishing them harshly for the act, educators and parents should be trying to understand why the student had cheated, and what they can do to help them be successful without resorting to cheating. Take, for instance, the case of Chris Loschiavo, a dean who once encountered a student who cheated “as a cry for help” (Loschiavo). This student had been caught cheating multiple times, even after he had admitted to and accepted the consequences, this student had been continually cheating in the same class (Loschiavo). By that point, the Dean Loschiavo said he was “ready to remove him from... [the] institution” (Loschiavo). However, as the dean searched further into the student, he found out that the student’s “girlfriend had just broken up with him, his grandmother (to whom he was