Cheating is a risky decision that some students at Bethpage High School choose to make without thinking of bigger consequences. These consequences can end up ruining their future and possibly end a future career. In order to understand why some students would cheat in school and how they felt about students that cheat, I questioned several students within the school to find out these answers. 

When we think of school we tend to think of the hard tests and school work that come along with each class. Some students think of school as just a way to get great grades that will help them succeed in the future and are doing extremely well in their classes. For other students some classes are a struggle and are barely passing by a point. Who can blame either of these students? High School is extremely tough and if you are not properly prepared drastic measures will be taken. Now, if this drastic measure is cheating then you might want to rethink that decision. There are two very important sayings about cheating: ‘cheaters never win’ and ‘cheaters can not succeed.’ Those who tend to cheat do not usually end up in a good place. That is if these cheaters are caught but even if they are not caught they will constantly have to live with the guilt of their cheating ways. Eventually their cheating ways may catch up to them in the future. 

All three sophomores anonymously interviewed have witnessed at least one student cheating in school. All three students that were interviewed associated bad things with students that cheat. One student stated that they “get that classes are hard but I don’t think it is ok to do”. Another student said something similar to this, stating that they “don’t think it is right because the student shouldn’t cheat their way into getting better grades because, once they get into college then I feel like the rules will be more stricket and the teachers will know that those grades weren’t earned”. The other student interviewed said a mixture of these two statements. All of these students also answered the same when asked if they would tell on a student that they did see cheating. They all said that they would not because it isn’t any of their business unless the person is cheating off of them. 

One student believed that students may cheat due to “a lot of pressure considering all the classes they take” this then only allows them “in their minds that they think that [a] test grade means everything and at that moment they forget how much wrong they are doing”. Another student believes that “students cheat when they don’t know the answers or they think that they won’t get a good grade or they will flunk out of the class or get kicked off of their team”. The final student interview also thought that students “don’t care about the consequences and just want to get it over and get it right. They don’t really care that much and they only care about what they want to do. If it’s not something they want to do then they will just cheat because they don’t care”. All of theses responses given are all linked by showing that  students are doing it for the grades or to get better grades and they don’t care what might happen they just want to succeed. 

Finally, the students were asked on how they would try to fix the problem of cheating in  the future. They all gave mixed answers and one was not sure on what could be done. Many good answers were given such as putting up folders or dividers in every class when taking a test to prevent cheating. Another student suggested that the teacher should constantly be on the watch and should not turn their back to do something else when a test or quiz is going on. There may be a student that might take advantage when the teacher is not paying attention. It is best to not take a risk and to prevent it when the teachers have the chance. Hopefully the amount of students that cheat will diminish in the future and realize the wrong they are doing. Sophomore students believe that cheating is not a good idea. What is your input on it?