Everybody Does It

According to a recent survey, cheating in U.S. high schools is decreasing. Let's put aside for a moment that those self-reporting surveys are highly self-serving and untrustworthy.  I very much doubt that high-school students are really more honest now, but, even if this is the case, where do all those cheaters in universities come from? The fact is that cheating in college campuses is on the rise, even in those Ivy-League institutions that are taken to be on hallowed ground.

A cynic would say that maybe it's because high school has gotten easier and college much more difficult, so there is a greater need to cheat at the higher level. Maybe. But, I wouldn't put too much credence in that explanation. I think that cheating is as common as ever; now easier than ever before, with all the gadgets and information technology available to everybody, students and teachers, who themselves have been caught plagiarizing other people's work.

So, let's not celebrate the rise of honesty in high school just yet.

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