Alhambra High: Where Cheating Thrives

CATHERINE CHIANG
Opinions Editor

Temptation is everywhere. It’s in the textbooks filled with answers just inches from your feet, the moment your teacher glances the other way, your friend making hand signals across the room. The problem is that many students—too many—choose to take the bait.
Academic dishonesty is nothing new, but it is shocking how prevalent it has become. According to a survey of American high schools, 74% of students have cheated on an exam, and 80% of “high-achieving” students have cheated. This trend is not just a reflection of our nation’s ethics. It’s a look in the mirror for us at AHS; and here, 93% of students surveyed admit that they have seen peers cheating. In our school, cheating has become a universal crime, an accepted offense. The rare student who doesn’t cheat is an anomaly and those who do are simply the norm.
We’re told at the beginning of every school year, in every class, that cheating is wrong. We know that cheating is immoral. So why do we do it?
There are all the old excuses: pressure, laziness, desperation. Yet, that doesn’t explain how and why cheating is such a pervasive problem in our school.
A better explanation can be found in our school culture. Students cheat, but few are ever caught or reprimanded. And for those who do experience the consequences, fewer realize how wrong their actions are and continue to be repeat offenders. Perhaps the worst aspect of our cheating culture is that students who cheat can “earn” high GPAs and be at the top of their classes. They can be awarded and praised. They can run for student government offices and win. They can represent the best of us.
Cheating is not just a way for lazy students to get by anymore; it is how “good” students—the ones in Advanced Placement (AP) classes, the ones who want to be competitive and succeed—get ahead.
“Twenty-five years ago, I saw more cheating from students who were just unprepared. Now, I see more students cheating as a result of competition to get into prestigious colleges,” Coach Lou Torres said.
And more disturbingly, many dishonest students do go on to big-name universities and highly respected colleges.
That message—that cheating is an acceptable way to the top, that those who cheat deserve what they gain from it—only worsens the further deteriorating integrity of our school. When students not only get away with dishonest behavior but are viewed as good students worthy of praise, this kind of unethical conduct perpetuates.
Not every student at AHS cheats and not every high-achiever is guilty of academic dishonesty. However, the fact that the students who take the easy way out are given the opportunity to represent the rest of this school, whether by participating in leadership, ranking highly in their class or attending prestigious colleges after graduation, shows the student body that integrity is not a factor in success. It feeds the attitude of achieving, no matter the cost and it maintains the assumption that cheating is how to get ahead.
We shouldn’t be complacent with this behavior and culture on campus. Quite frankly, we’re better than this; we shouldn’t need to sacrifice integrity in order to “succeed.” After all, it’s not just your grades and the name on your college sweater that defines who you are; it’s also how you earned your success. It’s your character.