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Surveys indicate that cheating is widespread among high school and college students. News media report cheating scandals at highly regarded institutions. Nefarious websites such as WriteWork (formerly cheathouse.com) make the work of others available to students who are inclined to cut corners by plagiarizing. WriteWork’s home page quotes a college professor as saying it is good news that one can turn to others’ writing for help—and then reports one student’s testimonial saying how the website helped get essays done faster and achieve better grades. That an epidemic of cheating has afflicted our educational system at all levels is no overstatement.

There are ways of fighting back. Turnitin, an innovative company founded by many academicians, provides useful assistance in identifying work that has been plagiarized. Banning programable calculators, cell phones, and other messaging devices during exams can reduce the incidence of cheating. So also having two versions of the same exam that look similar but have different questions can result in some unpleasant surprises for students with wandering eyes.

However, policing and disciplinary measures, though necessary, do not get at the root of the problem. Underlying the cheating epidemic is a crisis of cultural values, with many viewing cheating as nothing more than what one does to get ahead. Moreover, simply resorting to policing and disciplinary measures makes an us versus them type of situation. Teachers intent on curtailing cheating almost always lose out in this contest of wills. With students outnumbering teachers, the side with the numerical advantage wins more often.

In short, if the incidence of cheating is to be reduced, it is essential that the culture of the classroom changes, a task that is admittedly far easier said than done.

What Is Wrong With Cheating

Although the inappropriateness of cheating might seem to be a matter beyond debate when viewed from the perspective of those who teach, one should not assume that students see things the same way. Indeed, they might well be operating on the assumption that there are all sorts of good reasons to cheat: getting better grades that improve one’s chances of getting into a first-rate college, saving time on homework so as to have more time to spend with friends, or for a myriad of other reasons. Moreover, cheating in school might seem to some as simply an extension of what is happening elsewhere in society. We live in an era in which professional athletes use performance-enhancing drugs and dishonest business executives lie and cheat for personal gain.

However, the fact that cheating is widespread neither encourages teachers to excuse it nor gets them off the hook with respect to maintaining standards of integrity in the classroom. It does mean, though, that the case for academic integrity can no longer be assumed. Rather, it is something that teachers must address in the classroom in a proactive way every day of the academic year. This proactive approach must begin with teachers providing students with reasons for opting for integrity, rather than trying to cheat their way through school. What might some of those reasons be? Consider the

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