When faced with the stress of a test or just being too tired to study, students turn to cheating to help pass a test or get an A in their classes.

Cheating defined by the Triton High School handbook is “Intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials… to gain advantage on a quiz, test, exam, report, or other class project.” Also, it is aiding students to do better on a quiz, test, projects, and homework n a dishonest way.

Students view cheating in different ways than teachers and administrators may. “If one person cheats, it’s unfair that they will do well on the assignment but the rest of us fail,” explained senior Jen Calkins “So if they can do it and not get caught, why can’t I?”

“I was in a class the other day when I heard some disconcerting discussion among students, who on the whole felt that cheating was okay as long as you don’t get caught.” Said Principal Kathryn Dawe. “If that is what students believe we have a lot of work to do in educating our students about right from wrong.”  

Another student explained how cheating on tests and projects is stupid but on homework it is okay. “Homework just kind of seems dumb. Most students don’t have time for it, so we end up cheating to not get a zero.”

“Laziness.” Said Ms. Margaret Flaherty, an English teacher at Triton, when asked why students cheat. “Most of the time its laziness. It’s this weird kind of “the grade is everything” perspective, like there is a zero in Aspen, I have to do something about it so I will copy my friends work.”  

A senior at Triton said “If I cheat, which is rare,  it’s because I’m stressed and I really want to get the best grade I can. If I get bad grades on my report card, I get worried that I won’t get into the colleges I want.”

Flaherty also explained how many students may not realize that it can take up to 17 hours of work which entails emails back and forth between parents, meeting with the student, and multiple meetings, for only the second it took for a student to copy and paste something.

A sophomore student explained, “I have been caught cheating multiple times, but nothing has come from it.”

Celebrities such as Kim Kardashian West have admitted to cheating. West said she hid answers on the inside of her skirt so the teachers wouldn’t be able to ask her to lift it up to reveal the cheat sheet or be able to prove she was in fact cheating. Hearing stories like this, from a successful person, can make one feel like since the person is rich and famous and they could have gotten there with the help of cheating, they can too.  

There are also students, such as junior Samantha Protopapas, who believe cheating is wrong. “No I don’t cheat. I believe that things you get in life have to be earned, and I would never feel good about taking something that somebody has earned or getting something that I hadn’t,” explained Protopapas.    

It is rare to hear that a student copied someone’s homework or they gave someone the homework and got in trouble for it. But if a teacher or administrator wants to take action and punish them for it they can. The school’s Honor Code states that for the first offense of cheating on homework a student will receive a zero and their parents/guardian will be called. After the first offense it can eventually lead up to a suspension if it keeps happening

For students in college who get caught cheating, their punishment is much different than a high schoolers. It can haunt their academic career and follow them to other colleges/universities they may attend. Positions they hold, such as leadership roles, will be taken from them. They can get a zero on the assignment or even a zero in the class, which can be frustrating because they fail a class that they are paying for and will have to pay for again.