To Cheat or Not to Cheat.

"Cheater, cheater pumpkin eater". A phrase tokened by our kids everywhere. What does this phrase mean? To be honest the relation between cheating and eating pumpkins eludes me to this day. It has been taught to us as little children that cheating is bad. My parents have always said that cheating is for people who don't believe that they can succeed on their own. This brings us to the question, why do we cheat?

There could be many reasons explaining why people cheat. The most common reason is that people do not like failing. Be honest with yourself, the prospect of failure is horrifying. So to avoid failure people have come up with the solution to cheat. Let's take for example, writing tests. A person might feel they are not prepared enough to write it so they would jot down little cheat sheets on their arm or on a hidden piece of paper. Another form of cheating is from the help of a friend.

Imagine this; you are writing a test. You know the answer to a question but not the answer to the other, you look over to your friend's test paper, which on purpose is lying ever so close to the edge of their desk. A side glance on their sheet and bam! The question you have been struggling with has been answered. Both you and your friend repeat this process until the test is done.

A little sneaky, I know, but this is what is done in order to pass and in order to steer clear of failure. People may sometimes think that cheating is an easy deal. They might think that they can get away with it and no one will notice. What they will soon find out is that there are consequences to their actions. If you were to get caught cheating you could be penalized. Consequences that may occur could include failing the test or getting an automatic zero.

Society seems to already be aware of the problems that could arise from cheating but nothing changes. Cheating still happens. It's not the worst offence to cheat but it is a pretty big deal, especially if you are in a educational institution where integrity is something they take pride in.

In my opinion I think that cheating is bad. Morally, I have been taught to be an honest person. Although this is true I've have not been made immune to the temptations of cheating. I can remember a few times in my life where I had cheated. Although I received a passing grade, I didn't feel like I deserved it. Something about not earning a mark, or anything in general, by myself sends me into a spiral of regret and guilt. Cheating is something that could affect your whole life. So before you do it, just think. A failing grade earned by yourself feels better than a passing grade earned by lying. Trust me.