By Murphy Grant and Zach Smith
Co-Editor-in-Chief and Online Editor-in-Chief

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hat is cheating? A quick Google search reveals pages upon pages of links to websites explaining the ins and outs of the practice. From cheating on a person to cheating on a test, new research points to the reason why some are drawn to cheating.

To cheat is to defraud, to deceive while violating rules or regulations in a dishonest way, according to Dictionary.com.

The Dare County Schools Code of Conduct defines cheating as violating rules of honesty, such as plagiarism, copying another student’s test, assignment, etc.

Cheating has most commonly been referred to in this way but has taken on a whole new personality in the 21st century.

Cheating Redefined

According to a study jointly conducted by researchers from Rutgers University, Penn State University and Washington State, competition for desirable positions in the job market and acceptance to higher-education institutions has lead to an extreme amount of pressure on students. This increased pressure often leads to academic dishonesty and transgressions. These offenses are overlooked by teachers and staff who do not want to become involved.

Otherwise honest students convince themselves that they must cheat in order to not be disadvantaged when compared to those who do cheat. For many, cheating is a way to level the playing field.

“Cheating is when you are copying or using someone else’s work when you are not supposed to do so, help is when you ask for assistance. Usually, each teacher or professor lets you know their expectations,” COA Professor Dr. Carol Evans said. “Society also does this. We all know what is right and wrong, though some students ‘claim’ they did not know they were cheating to save themselves when caught.”

According to the First Flight High School Student Handbook, class outlines define guidelines for all work done in class, including a mandatory section on cheating and often contain a section on acceptable usage of technology.

“The definition of cheating has been distorted due to technology,” U.S. History teacher Tami Harper said. “A gray area has been created, but cheating is (still) cheating.”

Due to the technological advances of the 21st century, students in one class can text other students questions or concepts allowing the receiving student to perform better than they normally would have. In addition, pictures can be taken of assignments and sent to others.

“The person doing it probably thinks they are getting away with something (not having to do the work required),” Dr. Evans said. “And the person who they are copying from, if they know it, probably feels used.”

According to a recent study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, people who cheat experience a thrill and sense of accomplishment, the “cheater’s high”. To test this, researchers gave a word unscrambling test to a group. After participants finished, they were given an answer key and told for each correct response they would receive $1. What participants did not know was that researchers could see if answers were changed. 41 percent of people changed their answers.

“The fact that people feel happier after cheating is disturbing, because there is emotional reinforcement of the behavior, meaning they could be more likely to do it again,” said Nicole E. Ruedy, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Washington’s Center for Leadership and Strategic Thinking, to Jan Hoffman of the New York Times.

According to a separate study on the origins of academic dishonesty, people who cheat are often idealistic. Idealistic people believe that living an ethical life requires a person to do no harm, the opposite of how people truly feel after cheating, according to Ruedy’s research. Some students recognize the hypocrisy of cheating.

“Cheating is finding the easy way out of an assignment without learning the material. If they (students) are cheating in front of their teacher, they may feel an adrenaline rush,” National Honor Society (NHS) President Keegan Dean said. “To some people, it comes as (second) nature and people don’t realize they are cheating.”

Cheating in Class

Harper has experienced cheating firsthand in her classes.

“I was hurt that this student could cheat and look me in the face and not have any remorse,” Harper said.

Harper noticed a sharp increase in test scores while the amount of time spent taking tests decreased drastically.

“In one of my AP classes, a student was getting 100 percent on every test when the class average was 80 percent,” Harper said. “And they were finishing in 10 minutes.”

Since she suspected cheating, Harper altered her tests.

“I made that student a different test with similar questions and they failed miserably,” Harper said.

Harper, in addition to the heavy usage of technology, says the ease of cheating is a major reason why students do it.

“Students cheat because they did not prepare and did not prioritize, so then they panic,” Harper said. “Students have gotten by with it for so long that they begin to think it is the easier way (than actually doing their own work).”

Dr. Evans agrees with Harper’s statement.

“It depends on the student,” Dr. Evans said. “Perhaps they don’t want to do the work, or didn’t have time to do the work, or because of their immediate situation (they couldn’t do the work).”

A senior who wished to remain anonymous pinpoints pressure as the reason for cheating.

“After I cheat I feel bad because I let myself down, like (when I) find a worksheet online and copy it,” the senior said. “I cheated because I did not know the answer. There is so much pressure to be the best, so sometimes
I feel the only way to get by is to cheat.”

Some, however, focus on lifestyle as the reason for cheating.

“Some people are fine with just getting by in life but others want fulfillment. It is all personal preference,” Dean said.

Principal Arty Tillett says it is too bad people cheat due to stress and the competitive college process.

“We are seeing an increase in academic stresses that go along with the competition to get to the next level,” Tillett said. “People succomb to pressures, making cheating not surprising. Testing institutions have had to be more rigid about cheating and consequences have increased. We try to send a message here that there are consequences to cheating. Students are better off in the long run to struggle or not do well on a test or quiz and then go back and restudy.”

FFHS aims to create an environment free of cheating, ensuring the integrity of the learning environment and encouraging high character standards. To achieve this, all students adopt the honor pledge at FFHS. The pledge states, “On my honor, I have neither given nor received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment.” Each teacher, according to the Handbook, should be given a class set of the honor pledge printed on cardstock to be used as cover sheets for tests.

Traditional classes are not the only educational environments where students cheat. Online classes often have the most offenses of cheating.

Cheating in Online Classes

It is as easy as click, type, click.

“More people do it than we realize they do, unfortunately,” E-Learning Adviser (ELA) Gloria Meads said. “To me, there is a lot of work in online classes and it is easy to access someone else’s work and ‘get away with it’. The thing is, they really aren’t pulling one over on anyone and they are just hurting themselves in the long run.”

Students at FFHS taking online courses through North Carolina Virtual Public Schools (NCVPS) use either the Blackboard or Moodle programs, and must adhere to the NCVPS student Code of Conduct. Online cheating is not mentioned in the Dare County Code of Conduct or the Handbook.

According to the NCVPS Code of Conduct, students who cheat, plagiarize, use a language translator or violate copyright laws are subject to disciplinary action.

Individual online teachers, however, decide whether outside resources are allowed on specific assignments.

“Occasionally my teachers say notes are allowed and sometimes they say don’t use Google translate,” a sophomore who wished to remain anonymous said. “It is kind of hard to tell when you are cheating, however, because you can use your notes on a lot of stuff in my class.”

Student should pay especially close attention to directions given by their online teachers regarding assignments.

“It is imperative that students follow their teachers’ instructions to the letter to avoid such unfortunate situations,” NHS adviser Amy Larson said. “In online classes, students should be especially cautious to follow directions exactly.”

Neither NCVPS nor Dare County Schools has the technology to determine if students use online resources to cheat while doing assignments. However, software does exist that monitors mouse clicks to see if students open tabs on web browsers and keystrokes to see what is typed.

“Having a camera watch you, and software keep track of your mouse clicks, that does smack of Big Brother,” Douglas H. Fisher, a computer science and computer engineering professor at Vanderbilt University said to Anne Eisenberg of the New York Times. “But it doesn’t seem any worse than an instructor at the front constantly looking at you, and it may even be more efficient.”

In addition to some psychological impact, cheating has real punishment on both the school and online levels.

The Effects of Cheating

Disciplinary actions may be taken by the school if cheating is proven, according the the Dare County Schools Code of Conduct. However, the actions are not specified in the Code of Conduct and can vary. According to the Handbook, the first cheating offense will result in a parental notification of the offense, a zero on the assignment, an alternate assignment and a notification sent to the FFHS chapter of the NHS. Second and subsequent offenses result in a letter of reprimand, a zero on the assignment, an alternate assignment and either Saturday school, in-school or out-of-school suspension.

Cheating, according to the Handbook, is defined as any attempt to gain or give assistance on any assignment, quiz or test without the authorization of the classroom teacher.

Unauthorized help in NCVPS classes will result in the student’s principal and ELA being notified of the cheating offense. The alleged violation will then be reviewed by the school and NCVPS. Disciplinary action may be taken by either the school or NCVPS and parents will be notified. A zero will be received for the assignment on which the student cheated. In addition, the student must redo the assignment and the grade on the assignment will be averaged with the initial zero.

Larson says students have been removed from NHS for cheating.

“During the time I have served as NHS adviser, we have had to dismiss several members,” Larson said. “Often the incident involves students ‘collaborating’ on an assignment they were instructed to do individually.”

NHS bylaws stipulate that no member may be involved in any incident of cheating. Students who are caught cheating have a hearing before the Faculty Advisory Council. The council then votes on whether or not to dismiss that student from the NHS, according to Larson.

In the end, students look to ineffective teaching as the reason for cheating offenses.

“If I was more than well prepared for what it was and I just didn’t take the time to study or whatever I would feel bad (for cheating),” said one senior who wished to remain anonymous. “If someone did not prepare me well, I wouldn’t feel bad cheating.”

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