If you are hung up by a very difficult question in an exam which is crucial to your future life, what will you do? Will you abandon the question or find an easy way to go? 20% respondents in a survey conducted recently said they would cheat. It seems that cheating has become common among teenagers. But what causes the prevalence of this devious behaviour?
The causes can be classified into three aspects, which are personal, external and social factors.
Many students are score-oriented. They always try their best to achieve high marks. But sometimes, students may not be fully prepared and ready for loads of tests. To avoid themselves getting a failed grade, they cheat.
Besides score-oriented students, some lazy students also cheat in an exam as they aim at getting a pass or a good grade without paying any effort, which means they want to reap without sowing.
One more personal factor is the poor values and attitudes of students towards cheating. Many of them think that cheating is acceptable as seemingly, it harms no one. Moreover, they think that it will be ‘fair’ if they cheat as everyone does so.
The external factor that causes cheating is the immense pressure due to high expectations of teachers and parents. Many students are afraid of facing failure and some don’t want to disappoint them. Furthermore, students may be instigated and affected by peer pressure.
What’s more, the advancements in IT bring convenience to people, especially students. It is easier for students to cheat using different digital devices as they are not easily detected. With no doubt, this indirectly encourages teenagers’ cheating behaviour.
Cheating is a crime. It should not be tolerated and must be eliminated. Actions should be taken in early stages to prevent the prevalence of this undesirable behaviour.
Ethics lessons should be introduced in all schools to correct students’ wrong concepts towards cheating. Students should be reminded of the purpose of learning which is to gain knowledge and learn to be righteous. They should also remember, “No pain, no gain” so that they will understand hard work is the key to success, but not by fortune or cheating. In addition, schools should set up penalties as warning to raise students’ awareness of the consequences of cheating so that they will never cheat again.
On balance, for students’ own good, cheating behaviour must be corrected under the guidance and support of parents as well as schools.