Exploring American Culture´s Dark Spot

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Exploring American culture's dark spot
Educational expectations may create academic dishonesty incentive

Jay Z, Jay Gatsby, and Al Capone all reside in the same weak place in the hearts of Americans. These three men represent our nation’s twisted admiration for masterful cheaters.

Americans are intrigued by these men, seduced by their risk-taking and their subsequent success and fame.

The majority of society is not made up of criminals, gamblers, or drug-dealers. But cheating is prominent on a smaller scale, in more realistic acts.

Recently, educational cheating scandals seem to be gripping the nation, or at least the media.

One explanation for recently publicized academic dishonesty is that students feel increased pressure to secure high GPAs and standardized test scores to get into increasingly competitive colleges.

In New York in 2011, one student used fake IDs to take the SAT and ACT for six other students. To prevent this method of cheating from reoccurring, students now must provide a picture of themselves when they sign up for the SAT and ACT.

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