Most of us who completed high school prior to 1980 were warned that cheating on a test was morally wrong and that if you were caught doing so you were risking an F, suspension or even dismissal from school. The University of Virginia is famous for its strict Honor System dating back to 1842. Cheating was not tolerated and the penalty was immediate expulsion from the University. But, that all changed in 2022, to a two semester expulsion. Our society has devolved to accepting cheating and it is on the rise at all grade levels.
In grade schools through colleges, cheating is not only tolerated, it is now main stream. The Educational Testing Service (ETS) has statistics showing that whereas in the 1940s only 20% of college students admitted to cheating, nowadays the percentage has increased to 75 - 98%. In grade schools through colleges cheating (plagiarism, cheating on a test, copying test results etc.) is not only tolerated, it is now main stream. This ETS survey involved 70,000 students (both graduates and undergraduates) and was conducted for 12 years (from 2002 to 2015).
There is a great deal of peer pressure on students who do not cheat to start cheating due to peer pressure and the need to achieve a higher GPA. But what are they really achieving? It is clear that you are expected to cheat and that it will be tolerated, especially if it is kept quiet. Just sweep it under the rug and hope that no one trips jumping over the debris piled up under that rug.
Cheating is akin to stealing. Both are taking what they did not “earn”. If cheating is okay, stealing is too. Just pay attention to what is happening in the various cities who have a no prosecution for thefts under $1000. If cheating and stealing are tolerated, then why not tolerate other “non-violent crimes.” Such as deliberately harming the reputation of someone, lying for convenience to get a job, or the biggest one of all, teaching that a fetus is a “clump of cells” in order to promote easier abortion? Is that what we’ve become? A society so tolerant that as long as we believe the lie that “no one gets hurt”, it’s okay to cheat and steal to get ahead? I ask you, would you want to have heart surgery with an MD who got his degree by cheating his way through school? Or a financial advisor, or a house builder?
Extensions of cheating and lying can be seen in the ESG (Environment Social Governance) and DEI(Diversity, Equity,Inclusion) philosophies today. Many of today’s senior business managers were in academia over the last thirty years where they taught or learned these wrong-headed philosophies. No doubt that some are those who cheated in order to achieve higher grades. They weren’t caught or punished so they believe there was ‘no harm - no foul’. They are wrong. Cheating hurts all of us equally. Those who achieved without cheating may not get into the school or career positions they would like because someone cheated to get ahead.
The acceptance of cheating in our schools has directly lead to the decline in law & order, and morality of our society. Unless we teach our children that cheating is wrong and will not be tolerated our society’s moral decay will accelerate. We will reap what we sow.
All absolutely true. Unfortunately we reap what others sow in a dysfunctional society, hence the decline in America today. To many entitled people pushing their unGodly way of life on others. Pride is a sin so why are we expected to embrace the pride of foolish people?