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Cheating has gotten way out of control in our schools. It appears that the cheating problem is not getting better but getting worse. There are many more devices to use to cheat in the 21st century. It is not only the students who are cheating.

It is terrible that students cheat but it is so out of control that even teachers and administrators are involved in it. "Dr. Hall, once named as the nation's school superintendent of the year and a veteran of 40 years in tough urban districts including New York and Newark, now stands marked by the biggest standardized test cheating scandal in the country's history." (Kim Severson, A16) It is a sad statement about our country when a superintendent is guilty of cheating. That sends the wrong message to the children in her district and around the country. "Several U.S. school districts spent the summer embroiled in scandals over cheating on student tests--not by students but by teachers." (4) The fact is that cheating doesn't stop with students and administrators, teachers are also involved in cheating. It is no wonder that children cheat when many of the adults around them are. Cheating is not only at all levels of the education system but each year students find new ways to cheat.

Cheaters today uses many different devices to cheat with than in the past. "The latest tactic is to write the answers on the back of a water bottle label or print out a fake label and stick it on before class starts. What looks like a regular water bottle is really a cheat sheet." (Michael Romano, 14) Children have gotten clever about how to use simple items to cheat and trick teachers. It is sad to think that all that creative energy is wasted and finding new ways to cheat. "Today teachers are facing cheating facilitated by technology as they struggle to find constructive uses of technology to develop learning strategies. "(Elizabeth "Betty" Marcoux, 70+) Students will use their cell phones to text answers or photograph their tests and send to other students, so it is important to be aware of this and limit a students use of their phone. Unfortunately students are usually more electronically aware than their teachers and so it has been fairly easy to get away with this form of cheating. It is sad to think what this generation will do when they get out in the world since they have made cheating such a big part of their education.

There seems to be strong evidence to support that if you cheat in school than you are highly likely to cheat in the workplace. "In study of the medical profession, Baldwin and Daugherty (1996) found that the best predictor of cheating in medical school was having cheated previously in one's academic career, either in high school or college. Fass (1990) observed a correlation between cheating in school and cheating in public arenas such as income tax payment, politics, and college athletics." (Sarath Nonis; Cathy Owens, 69+) If a person makes cheating a part of their early life it appears that this way of life continues when they are adults. It is important to make it known to students that cheating is not tolerated so that we can stop the continuation of cheating after the school years. "He determined that students who engage in a wide range of academic dishonesty also engage in a wide range of work-related dishonesty." ( Sarath Nonis; Cathy Owens, 69+) It will be hard to find honest, hard working people to fill the workplace if all we have is cheaters graduating from our schools. Cheating has become too much of a way of life for people instead of the old idea of hard work never hurt anyone. It is sad to think about the future and all that could happen when we have a society full of people that are comfortable with cheating.

It is very obvious that cheating is a huge problem in our current society. Cheating is no longer limited to students but teachers and administrators are getting involved in it as well. Modern technology and products have also become a new tool to use when cheating. This persistent cheating during the school years has become a serious problem because this cheating now goes with people as they go out into the work place. We need to make a strong stand against cheating and try to get it under control before it is too late. We do not need a country full of people constantly cheating on everything because it will become very difficult to keep the country running smoothly.