Cheating

    I think cheating is prevalent in Bishop Connolly High School. You can pretty much find cheating in any school, in any state, in any country. It's not uncommon at all and it's no different here. I don't think the students at BCHS go as far as getting free term papers off of websites but find things like copying fill-in-the-blank or multiple choice on homework and tests as fairly harmless. Everyone here is taught that plagerism on papers and cheating on tests are serious offenses but cheating on homework is taken fairly lightly by the students. Being a small school, people develop friendships with uperclassmen who may eventually give them a hand in the future with papers or tests they took the previous year. Some people here cheat out of laziness but I think a lot of the students cheat to help them boost their GPA or to increase their class ranking for college. At BCHS and so many other high schools, there is so much pressure to do well. Like Glass-Castle stated, students in high school have to deal with the pressures of filling up their plate with sports, community services, jobs and other extrac curriculars that cheating seems to take a load off and save them some stress.

    I don't think that there is much teachers and other officials can do to put a stop to cheating. We're taught at a young age that cheating is wrong. Most kids won't cheat when they're younger because they fear the consequences and see it as morally wrong. As kids get older, they find ways to easily cheat without getting caught and learning the skills early in middle-school makes it extremely easy to do the same in high school. Teachers do all they can as it is. They teach us what's wrong and what's right but as long as students don't get caught there is nothing that will stop them from cheating.

Comments

[Casey Levesque]

I agree with you Emily, cheating is everywhere and is not uncommon at all. I agree with you when you talk about being a small school and how everyone has their friendships so its easier to cheat. Everyone just exchanges answers and thinks its no big deal. I also agree with the laziness, people cheat because they are lazy and just have no motivation to get their work done so they turn to others. Also students who do participate in sports have less time than others to get their work done but that should not be an excuse. I play sports year round and now have a job but I still manage to get all my work done without cheating. I agree that kids start cheating at a young age, like middle school, and perfect their skills by the time they get to high school. It is not right but there is nothing teachers can do. I agree with your points 100%.

[Aubrey Levesque]

I agree with your opening statement. I stated almost the same thing in my post as well. It is very true that cheating can be found everywhere and anywhere. It is true that we are taught about plagerism and how it is serious on papers and tests, but still many of us do it. It does not matter if we signed a paper about it or not, it still gets done throughout the year.
It is so true about laziness being a key factor in cheating. We get stressed and don't want to do work or study and cheating is done as a result. I agree with the other statement you make, about GPA and getting into college. As students, we know we must do well in order to achieve and move forward. Knowing this, we do anything we can to get good grades and get all our work done. It is true that we become stressed with extra activities, jobs and social life, that cheating seems like an easy way out.
I said the same thing about the teachers and school officials because it really is impossible to stop cheating all together. Your last paragraph is so strong and filled with true statements. It all happens that way and its how we have been trained by ourselves. I agree with you and Casey's response because I said much of the same things in my own post. We see what goes on in our own school and know what happens and that is would be very hard to control.