Cheating – an indivisible part of us

The researches have shown that 90% of children cheat during written or oral tests. The percentage ratio of cheaters is on the same level over the years, regardless of obtained new study methods and restrictions. There is an important question-from what moment do we start to cheat?

This time, DNA has talked with one of Yerevan school’s directors and one of the university students. They have one thing in common: both of them were excellent students.

Long school years

The teacher: “It does not seem believable, but, during school, years I have written off only once and every time I feel bad remembering it because I was even praised for that work. I have noticed that my friends were easily cheating on tests, but I have never thought, that it is a good thing or you can achieve a good result due to cheating”.

The student: “Every boy has a period in his life when he quit studying: I also was not an exception. At the 6-7th grades, I have already had my hobbies and there was no time to complete homework. So, cheating in the early morning and during classes has become a real solution for getting easy high grades at school. The time that could be spent on learning has converted into the time of thinking on new cheating methods. Many expressions like “May I answer later?” started to imply “May I learn and answer later?”.

Multilayer reasons

The teacher: “Parents can play a crucial part in children’s cheating. Instead of teaching children how to study, parents often do the whole work for their children. Teachers and schoolchildren do not always treat well to low-grade students. The system of teaching and evaluation seems to be one of the main reasons for this issue. Though I consider the difference in the system of values to be a principal cause”.

The student: “Maintaining the name of an excellent student or desire to get high grades are two main reasons for cheating. During the period of personality development, some subjects that were previously reluctantly studied are now being ignored at all. Being an excellent student, you do not want to either cheat or get low grades. At the moment, you know that it is just self-lying and start to understand that you have actually got no benefits from it years after, but you continue to cheat anyway when possible.

The parents’ wish is to see we are number one in everything. It is parents’ carefulness that forces us to always keep the dream of high grades in mind, even though it sometimes can be achieved at the cost of everything”.

Society as an influential factor 

The teacher: “People, regardless of age, pay too much attention to society attitude regarding some changing values, which is considered to be getting high grades at a young age. Our families have a habit of comparing us to everyone, inside and outside the family. That also forces us to achieve coveted high grades even at the cost of writing off”.

The student: “Before starting school, the family forms an understanding of right and wrong and you start following them when you start studying. However, peoples’ ideas of what is right and what is wrong do not always coincide. It causes some phenomena to become common”.

How to reduce cheating?

The teacher: “Children demand justice for themselves since childhood. Clarification of ideas of good and bad, right and wrong as well regular organization of discussions on injustice and its manifestations will help children gain a clear perspective about justice. The option of grades elimination may also be effective in solving the problem”.

The student: “If the lessons are presented in a more interesting way, I think, students will get excited and want to improve their knowledge even in those subjects which they were not previously interested in”.

Written by Heghine Navasardyan