It is almost impossible to find a person who has never cheated in school or university. Reports reveal that more than half of high school students admit to plagiarizing papers or cheating on tests, and seventy-four percent report copying their friends’ homework (Simmons, 2018). Interestingly, both successful and failing students have their reasons to cheat. Most of them realize that it is wrong but continue to deceive teachers, parents, and themselves. However, wanting higher grades is not the only cause of cheating, and many young people have more psychological reasons.
For some teenagers, cheating is the only way to raise their self-esteem and get attention and praise from their mothers and fathers. It is well-known that an extended number of parents demand good grades from their children and punish them if the points are not high enough (Simmons, 2018). Since not all young people have time or energy to prepare for all classes and exams, cheating seems to be the best option. Moreover, many teenagers have low self-esteem and lack faith in their abilities, that is why they think that trying to learn the class materials will not work for them. For example, a student who is bad at chemistry knows that he cannot memorize the material, and his parents will be mad because of low marks, so he decides to cheat in order not to get punished. Getting a high grade will raise this student’s self-esteem even though this was deceiving.
Technology development is another reason why teenagers choose cheating instead of learning. Studies show that “technology has made cheating in school easier, more convenient, and harder to catch than ever before” (Simmons, 2018, para. 20). In other words, with easy and constant access to smartphones and laptops, today’s students have an opportunity to get quick content and answers and then reproduce them for papers and exams (Simmons, 2018). Compared to learning, this method takes much less energy and time and usually gives better results. For instance, instead of spending days memorizing several units from a history textbook, one can relax and then take his or her smartphone to the exam, find all the answers, and get a high mark.
Reference
Simmons, A. (2018). Why students cheat – and what to do about it. Edutopia. Web.