Cheating!

Generations of students have been told that cheating is bad, yet all of us seem to have done it at some point in our life. It seems to be the ultimate challenge of "how long can you last without getting caught"? Now the practice of cheating has evolved from "how long can you last?" to "How creative can you be?"
Cheating has gone beyond the classic writing answers on your arms, there are plenty of video's on the internet that teach students how to cheat, and not get caught.

At Mary Ward I've yet to hear about someone cheating on a test; which makes sense since we are confined to a room which do not contain any possibility of cheating. However I have heard of kids copying reports and essay's from older students, thinking that they can't possibly be caught.

I think the whole idea of cheating comes from the fear of failing. Students cheat so they can get a passing grade and not let down the people expecting them not fail. Cheat on an answer here, cheat on an answer there, it doesn't seem like a big deal, but we are only setting up ourselves for our own failure. As a young kid I have felt the temptation of cheating, and I must admit I have done so once or twice. But now that I realize what I have done, I've realized that cheating has only hindered my learning, and now I tend to struggle on those specific subjects.

Cheating is a simple way of solving your immediate problem, but in the end you end up not learning anything. Our teachers and parents tell us this every year, but they also say that failing is not acceptable. Therefore in our minds weighing out the options of failing and cheating, and their repercussions, we seem to choose cheating over failing.