Feature

Cheating Epidemic

By Jennifer Katz

Word Count: 956/(800-900)

                      In the modern day education system, the pressure to succeed compels students to turn to unethical practices. According to Alexandra Robbins, a journalist who returned to her high school after graduating college, “The obsession over name-brand schools is the most frenzied it has ever been; paradoxically, as it has become more difficult to get into selective schools, students’ and parents’ expectations that students will attend those schools have gone up.” Prestigious schools have earned a connotation with immediate success, and the dying need to attend an Ivy League school drives students to do anything in their power to get there. Students load their schedules with AP and honors courses, hoping to build an impressive transcript but the masochistic challenge proves too difficult. One solution that many students turn to is cheating. Cheating, in its many forms, is on the rise partly due to more advanced technology, which provides easy access to information. Columbia High School (CHS) is no different from the majority of schools sucked into a cheating pandemic. Students feel obligated to cheat when all of their peers are cheating to keep up with the competition. Behind closed curtains, CHS' high and low level students alike participate in an underground world of cheating.

             To many students, the definition of cheating has evolved. Poppy Schmidt*, ‘16, admits that copying friends’ homework is no longer considered cheating. “People share and exchange homework answers so often that it is rarely viewed as cheating.” In reality, this sharing of answers is not the individual work that the teacher intended. Even students who do not believe they cheat find themselves comparing homework answers on a daily basis. Schmidt claims, “CHS has been infiltrated with cheating to the point that many students cannot even recognize when they are participating.” In a 2004 survey, 82 percent of high school students believed that working on an assignment with classmates when a teacher requested individual work was not cheating.

              Another 2004 study by the Carnegie Foundation reported that about 67 percent of students cheat on tests. While cheating on homework is nonetheless still considered cheating, it is a less extreme version of the cheating that occurs. Derek Odette*, ‘16 details, “A few guys in my class went in the teacher's desk and took a picture of the test and then by the next day half the class had gotten the picture. They did it for every test that year because my teacher was so oblivious. Because I always have the test, I haven’t studied for the class since before midterms. I felt really bad but everyone was doing it and there was no way I could get an A in the class otherwise.” The accessibility of information through phones allows students to cheat during tests in multiple ways. Another student, Max Hester*, ‘17 admits, “Depending on the environment of the class, I can usually pull out my phone and look up the answers to a test.”

           Another more physically threatening form of cheating is gaining popularity -- the abuse of Adderall. Adderall is a prescription medication used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as well as narcolepsy.  According to California pediatrician, Lawrence Diller, “People with ADHD who are performing below average on mental aspects that require continued concentration and attention to detail, when you give them Adderall or Ritalin, their performance improves to normal levels. If you give [non-ADHD] people who are performing normally in these tasks low doses, their performance improves to supranormal levels.” Prescription ADHD medications have become increasingly popular for overworked high school and college students, yet these students have not been diagnosed with ADHD. Especially in the face of standardized testing such as SAT, ACT, and AP tests, students feel pressure to perform well and turn to drugs that can increase focus and performance. So the question arises whether the illegitimate use of Adderall is considered cheating. Non- ADHD students have increasingly found a source of academic performance enhancer drugs either through purchase by a person who already has it or by cheating the system to get it from their psychiatrist. Dolores Bradley ’16 is not prescribed with ADHD medication but has taken Adderall three times: to finish homework, to take an AP exam, and to complete the SAT. She says, “A lot of people say that taking Adderall is cheating, but honestly, I disagree. Adderall doesn’t answer any questions for you it helps you focus and for someone like me who often has a really hard time – it is something that helps a lot. I don’t think it is good to be completely dependent on it, but I can say, especially when it comes down to taking important tests it makes a big difference and will hopefully help me to achieve higher testing scores.” According to J.J Colagrande, a professor and author, however, “Adderall is a Schedule II drug listed alongside cocaine, oxycontin, opium, PCP and morphine. It is illegal to possess the drug without a prescription and using it on a college campus should basically be considered cheating, pretty much like an athlete who uses steroids to gain an inside advantage.” Adderall has serious side effects ranging from anxiety to death in the case of over dosage. Regardless, students continue to take this drug to concentrate and perform better in school related tests and assignments.

                  Whether or not the illegitimate use of ADHD and ADD medication is considered cheating, there is an undeniable issue in schools – CHS included – that needs to be addressed. A non-cheating environment needs to be promoted, and teachers need to be more aware of what students are capable of. More importantly, less pressure should be placed on students because the premise of cheating is a result to the super- competitive, overachiever societal standard.

*These names have been changed to protect this person's identity.

The prescription drug for people with ADHD that is largely abused by the high school and college population.

Image courtesy of Robert Rex Jackson's flickr