By Rachel Reinke
Staff Writer ’06
As more and more is expected of students, many turn to the easiest way out – cheating
A trend at Lassiter is quickly on the rise, and I’m not talking about the hemlines of those fabulous spring skirts. Now more than ever, students are taking it upon themselves to receive their grades in the easiest way possible—and with the least amount of work possible—by cheating.
Whether it’s copying answers down like mad before a test in an unsuspecting spot on a desk, programming formulas into a calculator, or just copying someone’s homework, lack of academic integrity really doesn’t seem to bother most students these days. As long as the work gets done, the test gets aced, and the GPA stays where it needs to be, it doesn’t really matter how it happened.
Everywhere you turn, more and more is being asked of students today. They are more greatly challenged in higher-level classes and expectations to succeed from everyone from their parents to their peers are constantly thrown at them. So, it’s no wonder that students conveniently turn to the easiest possible method to make not only that highly sought-after A, but sometimes just to maintain a passing grade. According to junior Jessica Leterle, when the thought of receiving a better grade is as simple as glancing onto someone else’s paper, students “feel compelled to cheat,” and get a one-up in a “society that forces kids to excel and succeed.”
Time management is probably not very high on the list of many teenage students’ lists of talents, and with so many other things keeping them busy, it’s easy to let schoolwork become a low priority. When there is someone else to ask for homework answers, countless outlets online, or even a strategically placed test answer sheet, it seems inviting to take one of these routes. This way, the time that would have been spent on studying can go into something more important, like soccer practice or the latest episode of “The O.C.”
Another appeal of cheating is the rarity of getting caught. “It would be so much better if teachers realized when kids are cheating and actually punished them when they do,” sophomores Claire Richie and Kaylee Niemasik agreed. Every syllabus that is handed out and signed in every class is graced with Lassiter’s infamous “Academic Integrity Policy.” However this policy is taken less than seriously and is easily bypassed, especially when it is carelessly enforced.
On the whole, Lassiter students are learning to love the easy way out, cheating to get grades they don’t deserve in the face of a society that has come to expect it of them.