Why is cheating wrong?

Author: Unpublished

Asking why cheating is wrong may seem a silly question since just about everyone agrees that cheating is morally bad. Thus we need to address such moral issues and take steps to prevent it. Cheating is essentially acting dishonestly or unfairly in order to gain a personal advantage. It is morally wrong because it disregards set rules in favor of one’s personal success. When a selfish desire for victory or accomplishment outweighs a moral commitment to truthfulness and equality, then such acts become morally wrong.

Cheating is a selfish act that gives us an advantage over others who are facing the same challenge. As Christians, we should seek to help others fairly and justly while maintaining moral integrity and a godly reputation. Cheating simply does not help uphold that standard. In the Ten Commandments God said, “You shall not steal”. And cheating is stealing—because it’s stealing someone else’s work. In the New Testament, we’re told to “put off falsehood” (Ephesians 4:25). Simply put: Don’t lie. And cheating is lying; you’re turning in work you’re falsely claiming as your own. We all know that dishonesty mars an individual’s integrity and reputation (Proverbs 10:9). Not presenting oneself truthfully is lying, and lying is a sin (Leviticus 19:11; Proverbs 12:22).

Cheating is a persistent problem in classrooms. How students think about this problem and how teachers should respond to it depend on the students’ levels of moral development. But what is morality? Is it subjective or objective? Or is it just simply gender related? Does a boy’s morality differ to that of a girl or is there a universal law governing this body of knowledge as suggested by Kohlbeg and Gilligan? The conceptual difference between Kohlberg’s and Gilligan’s theory boil down to whether males and females define “morality” differently — with men focusing on justice concerns, according to Kohlberg, and females more focused on caring and relationship needs, according to Gilligan. Many assume that boys by nature are more likely to cheat than girls, but research actually doesn’t support that. For morality is rational and objective and is based on rational human reasoning and is neither gender related.

For me it is not the consequences of an action that makes it moral but the reasoning or intention that goes behind the choices one makes. I think this is exactly what God wanted us to do; He wanted us to look at ourselves and analyze what’s our intention inside our hearts. He wanted us to rise to the moral challenges presented, and do the right thing regardless if whether we are boys or girls.

I’m a very dedicated student in school, but when my teacher bombards me with 50 questions due the next day or when my teacher gave me a fill-in-the-blanks worksheet on a night when I have other tests then I’m left with no choice but to resort to cheating or copy from a friend to pass the subject. It’s clear that cheating smears God’s name. But cheating affects more than my relationship with God, it affects my relationships with other people too. Cheating affects my relationships with my classmates. When someone cheats—and doesn’t get caught—he gets a grade he didn’t earn. And that affects the other students in several ways. They get mad, because they studied hard, only to get a lower grade than the one who cheated. They might be tempted to cheat too, just to keep up academically with cheaters.

Cheating affected my relationships with adults too like my teachers who are trying to help me get through my college education. If I was caught cheating, I’ve broken their trust—not only between me and my God, but between me and anyone who knows me. But even if I didn’t get caught cheating, I’ve violated a trust, and my conscience tells me that. By cheating, I maybe on my way to establishing a pattern of dishonesty that could grow to include lying and stealing too. Dishonesty ruins relationships, and cheating is just one symptom.

Finally, and most importantly, cheating simply isn’t a good witness. If others know I am a Christian and they see me cheating, what does that tell them? As Christians, we’re called to be different in everything we do—at church, at home, at school. But we’re not only called to be different, but also to make a moral difference to those around us.

Even though the world excuses dishonesty when it deems it trivial, God asks us to be truth-tellers at all times. If a student does poorly on a test because he didn’t study, his low grade is a natural consequence of a poor choice. God will honor that honesty, and the student can learn from his own mistakes. A bad grade on a test may teach and motivate a student to study harder ahead of time or get a tutor when he needs help. Unfortunately, cheating seeks to bypass this important learning process and manipulate the consequences through dishonesty.

Being an advocate of honesty to fight cheating is not just a one day event. It should be a lifestyle where we make it as part of our day-to-day living. The motivation should come from within and not because of external factors. We want to be honest not because we want to please others but rather we want to please God who always sees the inherent goodness inside each one of us. Sometimes, being honest requires self-sacrifice. A part of us dies so that a new part can be born. As one door closes, another door opens. I believe that anyone is capable of being honest in order to become a hero in his own journey.

Everyone has the potential of becoming the hero that we dreamed of as long as we are willing to take mighty and great exploits by facing our own weaknesses and fears. We do not need to possess “super powers” in order to call ourselves as “heroes.” All we need to be is to become a changed person then we start to realize that there is more to life beyond ourselves. It means that we can contribute something for the good and the welfare of the majority like any other heroes would do by setting a good example of being honest to others. Things may not go smoothly. We may get bruises along the way but we take heart because it may be through our example that other people may find the inspiration to be honest.

So many things in life are out of our control, but the narratives we create about who we are and where we’re going is something that we do have control over. It can be really hard to realize that sometimes, life can overwhelm us and make us feel as if so much is out of our control. However, it is up to us to work with what we have — to create our own stories and make our narratives read the way we want them to.  Life is filled with the unexpected. Things change and people change for the better. If we want to have control of the story of our life, it is up to us to learn to adapt to change. We must realize that it is inevitable; therefore, we need to learn to be flexible. It is only then that we will be able to truly craft our own life story without feeling as if we are powerless to change it.