Students cheating is not very unusual within schools. Students cheating can vary from cheating on a small assignment to cheating on a large and important test. The question is: Why do students actually cheat?

Some believe it is due to the students being lazy or even peer pressure due to everybody else cheating. However; this is not correct. The reason students cheat is because the weight our education system puts on grades is ridiculously heavy. It is to the point that students feel it is necessary to cheat to feel accepted, whether it be by parents or by peers.

In a survey conducted by plagiarism.org 95% of students admittted to cheating of some sort in their high school career. The numbers of students cheating are very large, but why?

With the education system we have in place there is extreme pressure on students to get good grades. Some students have to get good grades to earn acceptance from their parents, siblings or peers. Meanwhile students cheat on tests, exams and assignments to earn their grades if they feel they will not get a good grade or pass on their own knowledge alone.

Students are more worried about getting good grades than they actually are about their education due to flawed education system we have in place. Instead of focusing on their education and what they are learning, they can just cheat to get the grades and they won’t have to actually learn anything.

In response to cheating many teachers and schools have started to crack down and punish students for cheating. Instead of punishing students for cheating in an already bad system, they could adjust something to where grades are not as important as they currently are and education will become the part that is the most important, as it should be.