Introduction
Student cheating is used to describe any form of academic dishonesty or using unlawful means to achieve a result. While in college, it is very easy for students to forget long term penalties of the decisions they make because of short term pressure or influence (Thompson, 2013). Cheating may look like an ideal solution to a student who does not study but wants to achieve success in class. The effects and consequences of cheating may be very serious ranging from serious legal problems, academic difficulties and damage of reputation.
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Effects of Cheating
According to Hinrichsen (2011), different universities and colleges have different policies stating what punishments the students caught cheating face. Besides these punishments, cheating is an immoral act that has its effects that reflect directly on the student. Cheating makes students come out of colleges without the expected academic requirements. This is because once in college, the students become lazy to study and conduct research which is very necessary in knowledge acquisition. Therefore, cheating students do not meet the academic threshold to perform well in the job market (Archer, 2013).
Consequences of Cheating
Cheating can make a student to completely fail a course (Thompson, 2013). This implies that the student not only fails the assignment in which he was caught cheating, but the whole course including the subjects that the student has previously passed. In some institutions, the student is awarded the lowest grade in case of cheating. This pulls down the students aggregate points making the student fail in the final grade awarded.
Students caught cheating may face suspension from the academic institution. After a cheating incident, a student may be forced to be out of school for a whole academic semester or academic year. Suspension makes the students fall behind schedule and loose colleagues. This can also make a student to lose financial aid or sponsorship from other well-wishers. Students who aid cheating may also face the same punishments (Archer, 2013).
In some institutions, cheating may lead to expulsion. The school management may expel a student on the first offense or after a series of the offense depending on the policy of the institution. This does not only entail permanent dismissal from the institution, but also a permanent offense may be imposed in the academic record of the student. This punishment may prevent a student from reaching his academic and career goals and objectives. This also has a negative impact on jobs that may require security clearance on academic background.
Cheating can lead to exposure to legal consequences. This mostly happens when a student uses a person’s copyrighted work inappropriately. This happens when a student carries published work and records it as part of his research without appropriate citation. The student may be forced to pay financial damages to the publisher.
Why students Choose to Study
Hinrichsen (2011) outlines that there are various reasons as to why students study. Studying is very essential for a student to acquire the required knowledge for the course of study as outlined in the curriculum. Studying also prepares the student well on how to handle issues that pertain to the course once they complete the studies and go to the job market. Students who study well usually have very high confidence in performing activities related to the course.
How to Avoid Cheating
Students should by all means avoid cheating. This can be possible through good preparation for examinations and assignments. Students should also be very careful not to lose focus on the career goals and objectives. Students should also be very careful and avoid the distractions that may be caused from peer influence that may lead to adoption of such negative behavior (Thompson, 2013).
Conclusion
Studying is very crucial for a student. This is because of the preparation that it puts in a student for future activities (Archer, 2013). Cheating is an activity that averts the intention of academic studies and should be totally discouraged. This is because it affects the academic acquisition process in a student and thus may lead to creation of half-baked professionals who may not produce good results at work.
- Archer, J. (2013). Exam Cheating. Retrieved from. http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/effects-students-caught-cheating-college-6186.html
- Hinrichsen, E. (2011). Consequences of Exam Cheating. The Bright Hub. July 2011
- Thompson, V. (2013). Effects of Exam Cheating. Retrieved from http://education.seattlepi.com/effects-students-caught-cheating-college-1219.html
