Cheating: Is the Punishment Worth the Risk?

Cessie Ryder

The temptation to cheat in college is a big issue that many students face. They have to decide whether to give in to the temptation or stand strong and deny it. The course work in college is very difficult and involves a lot of time input and hard work. Most students enter college willing to put in this time and effort, but after a while many can become burned out on their studies or just get lazy and that is when cheating can look very tempting. Cheating is an easy, immoral way out of getting something done and students usually tend to cheat when they have procrastinated and are in a rush to finish something. Most people do not consider the full consequences of their actions when they cheat and do not take the time to think about if the effects and potential punishment is worth the risk.

Many colleges are extremely strict on their cheating rules and usually enforce a “no tolerance” policy. A lot of schools are working towards lowering the amount of cheating that goes on by enforcing honor codes and creating standards committees. Internet sites like turnitin.com that require students to upload their papers onto this website that then searches the entire Internet for anything that is plagiarized are also being utilized to catch cheating. Hopefully, through strict policies and special committees, colleges will be able to motivate their students to do their own work and reduce the amount of cheating.