Cheating at University is a bad habit that can affects student’s whole life Everybody was once a student and his favorite tool for writing an essay or presentation was CTR+C and CTRL+V. However, in the past, students did not have conveniences like us. Therefore, they need not these functions but they must go to library and read a lot of books to find the best material for their school work. Nowadays, we have internet and a lot of online databases where we can find a lot of material for our work. That is why cheating is more extended now then in the past.
However, high school students usually do not consider copying some parts of someone work as cheating. Therefore, when they do it later at university, they are violating university rules and they can lose their academic integrity. Also students can be excluded from college for cheating. Other bad thing about cheating is that people cannot get rid of this bad habit. When student starts to cheat in the school, he does it usually also later in the work and it can have bad consequences. On the other hand, sometimes can happen that nobody find out that the student was cheating. This can help him to finish the college and find a well-paid job.
However, it can happen that, somebody detect that the student was cheating and he can be suspended. Even though the students know that cheating is immoral, short-term solution, and it can affect their future, they do not hesitate to continue with it. Nowadays, a lot of students cheat but they do not realize that they can lose their academic integrity. Academic integrity is the moral code which includes avoiding of cheating or plagiarizing and honesty in research. Also, it is the key to successful finish university. Penalty for violating academic integrity depend on severity of the violation.
It is usually zero from a test, assignment or exam, warning, disciplinary probation for a set period of time or suspension. In some case, the student can be expulsing from college (Princeton University, 2011). Moreover, any impressive work the student does in the future will be tainted by his reputation for cheating. For example, when student is writing essay but he early plagiarized either a part or entire work of another students or someone else and pretend it as his own work, later nobody will believe him that it is his work and not someone else (Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 2012).
Also trust is difficult to rebuild again, when he has been caught for cheating. Students may recover quickly from the test where they got zero or warning which they got when they were caught for cheating. However, it takes a long time for a student to make up wrongful behavior. This creates a lack of trust between students and professors and it damages relationships. Also losing academic integrity has a serious effect on the trust shown by not only professors but also employers and peers.
According to research made by David Wangaard, director of The School for Ethical Education, and Jason Stephens, assistant professor in University of CT, 82% of students reported seeing homework cheating weekly, 44% reported seeing test cheating and only 12% of them reported seeing other students being caught in cheating. Therefore, when only 12% of students are caught during cheating, students do not hesitate and cheat again. When they are cheating, they can lose their academic integrity which has a serious effect on their future. Losing academic integrity can lead to expulsion from university.
Students often start only with small violations of rules, but it usually grows up to a serious problem. Therefore, almost all universities solve this problem with exclusion of cheating student. For example, the City University has Scholastic Honesty Policy. When the professor finds out that the student violates the rules, he has to contact the Scholastic Honesty Committee Chair of the academic ethics. He notifies a date of Hearing and the student has some time to prepare for it. Then student defend himself in front of 3 Scholastic Honesty panel members and the Chair. They decide if he cheated or not.
When the student was cheating three times, he would be expulse from university (The City University of Seattle, 2001). Therefore, he will have problems with finding new university or job which he wants to do. Nowadays, a lot of people have a degree. That is why people without a degree have problems with finding some well paid job in that employ where this degree is needed. When those students who were excluded from a school don’t have trade school they will have problems with finding job, where they can earn more money. Every year 50-80 students are suspended or dismissed from college because they break the rules (UCSanDiego, 2013).
Students who are cheating are risking expulsion from the university and consequently problems with finding jobs in the field where they were studying. Not only expulsion from a university can affect student’s future but also when some student is cheating, it catches up him later in the work. Professors could not always find out if some of their students are cheating. Therefore, students can sometimes cheat without punishment. Students, who were cheated once, may have no problems to do it again or have some other misbehavior (Bouville, 2008).
When is somebody cheating in the work, he is usually fired for that. Also after few years somebody can find out that the employee has cheated to get a diploma and he will be suspended. Annette Schavan, the educational minister in Germany was suspended because of plagiarism parts of her thesis. Therefore, she was stripped of her doctorate (Breidthardt, 2013). Students who were cheating do not feel that they should avoid it. Also they do not have strong morality and they usually do not realize that what they are doing is immoral.
Cheating is not only immoral but it also affects students? behavior. During the university he cannot realize it but later his employers can find out. For example when cheating helped him to have better grades and finish the university, his employer on the interview believed that he is suitable for that job and has all knowledge that he needs. But the truth is opposite and it always comes out. This student can lack some important knowledge or become lazy. So most of cheating students will be sooner or later detected and it will cause bigger disaster then they can imagine.
On the other hand, not all students are cheating because they are lazy but also because they may need it. Cheating can sometimes help some of students who have handicap or problems in specific field of study to finish University easily. Even though student is very smart and intelligent, he can decide to cheat. No one can detect that he was cheating and it won? t have disastrous consequences for him as for that students who were caught. According to survey in 2001 by Donald L. McCabe (2001), professor of Rutgers University, 41% of students admitted that they used “cut and paste” from online sources (Sterngold, 2004).
There are sort of students who have problems with some type of study in school (for example they have problems with memorizing theorems) but in the practical experience they are excellent. They often know that cheating is immoral and it can have bad consequences. Nevertheless, they take the chance because they do not know other solution. For example, he can be the perfect person for that job but no employer wants to have employee without a degree. Therefore, cheating can help him finish the university and get that job. If cheating help students to get a degree, they usually do it.
So violating the rules has not always only negative effect on students? future. In conclusion, cheating always affects students? future, whether in good or in bad way. Cheating is immoral and short- term solution but students do not hesitate and do it again and again. Students who decide to do this are often confessed. When they are confessed, they can lose their academic integrity or even worse they can be expulsed from university. However, in some case can happen that nobody finds out cheating student. Usually, when these students were cheating at university, it caught up them later in the work.
They lack some important knowledge or become lazy. Otherwise, cheating does not have always a bad impact on their future but it can also have a good. Some students are lucky and they were not caught for cheating and also it helps them to complete college and find a job that they desire it and are good in it. Therefore, students decide to risk it and hope that nobody confessed them.
Reference List
- Bouville, M. (2010, January 29)
- Why is Cheating Wrong? Studies in Philosophy and Education. Retrieved from ProQuest Educational Journal database. Breidthardt, A. (2013, February 9)
- Merkel confidante resigns in German plagiarism scandal. Reuters. Retrieved February 13, 2013 from http://www. reuters. com/article/2013/02/ 09/us-germany-minister-resignation-idUSBRE91804T20130209
- City University of Seattle (2011, September) Scholastic Honesty Procedures for City University European Programs. Retrieved February 15, 2013 from http://www. vsm. sk /files/sh/sh-proceduresnew. pdf
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (2012, June).
- Policy on Academic Cheating and Plagiarism for Students. Retrieved February 10, 2013 from http://www. chemistry. sfsu. edu/cheating_plagiarism/cheating_plagiarism_current. pdf Princeton University (2011, August).
- The Disciplinary Process. Retrieved February 10,2013 from http://www. princeton. edu/pr/pub/integrity/pages/discipline/ Stephens, J. ;amp; Wangaard, D. (2011)
- Academic Integrity: A Critical Challenge for Schools. Excellence ;amp; ethics. Retrieved from http://www2. cortland. edu/dotAsset/ 317302. pdf Sterngold, A. (2004)
- Controling PLAGIATORISM. Change, 12-26. Retrieved from ProQuest Educational Journals database. UCSanDiego (2013)
- Surprising Facts About Academic Integrity at UCSD. Retrieved February 15, 2013 from http://students. ucsd. edu/academics/academic-integrity/facts. html
