Cause and Effect of Cheating in School Essay

Every action has a consequence, whether it is good or bad. The choices you make can follow you the rest of your life. Cheating is an issue that affects many students at one time or another throughout their education. There are many different ways to cheat: copying homework, looking over at a peers test, plagiarizing, and so on. Nothing good comes from cheating your way through school, the only person you are cheating is yourself. There are serious consequences for cheating. Every teacher has different ways of punishing their students. Some teachers are hard on their students and give them the maximum punishment they can give them. However, as i’ve witnessed teachers are surprisingly lenient on their students. Many just give them a warning or make them retake the test. The problem with teachers doing this is that the students never really learn their lesson. It enables them to cheat more, if they know they won’t have serious consequences for their actions, they will be more willing to try to test their luck. Cheating is most likely to occur in students who lack effort in their studies. Students who do not attend class or do not study are not likely to get passed on their own. Therefore, they find cheating to be a good and easy way for them to pass. Nothing can be gained by cheating. Of course, a better grade may be given, but they are not learning anything by stealing somebody’s hard work. The cheater may be passing the class with a great grade, but where will the cheater be when the finals come around and they no longer have a way to cheat. Cheating can result in a tragic cycle. Once you start it is hard to stop. A person may believe that they are benefiting themselves by cheating to receive a better grade. They put off studying and never really learn the material. At the same time they are doing well in the class. Many people may not see what the problem would be, less work and good grades. What’s to complain about! However, this cannot continue forever. It will catch up to you and you will regret it. When it comes time for you to know the material, you will have to learn from the beginning or receive an unsatisfactory grade. Even if you manage to get a good grade, it cannot make you feel good knowing you did not earn it. There is going to come a time in your life when you are going to need to put what you learned in school to use in real life. If you did not do the work, you will not be able to do this. In college they are to prepare you for your career. If you plan on cheating your way through college you may want to rethink your game plan. Imagine a surgeon cheating his way through school and not really learning what was necessary to perform his job. Would you feel comfortable having this doctor operate on you? There are more things at stake than good grades. You have to think of your future and the person you want to be. Nothing in life comes easy, if you want to make it you are going to have to work at it. There is no reason you should be rewarded for cheating your way through school. It is always better in the long haul to be honest and do your own work. Once you make doing your own work a habit it will become easier. It will also build your self-esteem. Having that pride when you graduate will be one of the best feelings in your life. You can think to yourself that you did this, it wasn’t because of anyone else, it was all you. All those late nights of studying and group study sessions have paid off. You know that you are able to set a goal for yourself and find the strength within you to accomplish this goal. If you are able to do this, you are capable of so much more. Your future will be bright. When looking for a job when you are older, employers look for certain qualities. They look for a good work ethic, someone with good leadership qualities and, someone who isn’t lazy but who is willing to do what is needed to be done to finish the job. You will have more confidence going into an interview if you are well qualified for the job. Nothing good comes from cheating. It may trick you in the short hall but you need to have the strength to do the right thing. You need to be more concerned with your future, and less concerned with cheating your way through a class just so you have more free time. Today’s generation will never succeed if they do not learn to take responsibility. We are truly blessed to be given a proper education, many countries are not as fortunate as us. In a way Americans have become spoiled and have taken their education for granted. They do not view it as being important. We need to look at other nations, and realize what they would give up just to be able to learn like we do. We need to get back to a place where we are thirsting for knowledge and not just doing the bare minimum to get by. Over all, the consequences of cheating vary greatly, from being dealt with on a serious level or to just have to live with knowing deep down inside that what you have done is wrong. Some say cheating is not wrong unless the person gets caught, but cheating is no different than stealing, and stealing is wrong no matter what. I think everyone would admit that. As an individual you must take pride in yourself and do your own work. It is your life and you should want to be the best you can be. Cheating in the short run will only hurt you in the future.