Cheating: What's so bad about it?

The Obvious Harms

First of all, there are, of course, the risks of getting in trouble for violating rules of fairness that your school has established�a risk that should definitely make you think twice before cheating. There is always a chance of getting caught; it is never safe to cheat. The chance that someone will catch you is significant, because of the sheer number of ways you can be revealed. Cheating usually takes place with at least two involved parties. By cheating, you place your fate in the hands of the other, because there is no way for you to control their actions. If one of you falls, both of you fall. The teachers aren't the only ones that are watching; you have to trust that none of your peers will accidentally or purposely reveal you. There's always the possibility that you expose yourself through a careless mistake, and some teachers have dealt with thousands of students over the years; they are not fools, and they are not easily fooled

Though this is not the worst consequence of cheating, it is the most obvious. Getting in trouble for cheating just once is enough to damage your future. Under the policies of most schools, cheating is treated as a serious offense. Depending on the circumstances, the consequences can vary, but they can be severe, ranging from losing points to referrals; even suspension or other harsher punishments are not out of the question. Not only do you face these punishments, you can also destroy your credibility as a student. Teachers who write your recommendations will lose respect for you, and will not write that letters that distinguish you from your peers and enable you to go to an Ivy League school. If the offense goes on your record, it has devastating effects on all of your accomplishments: a 4.0 GPA and 2400 on the SAT mean little if admissions officers doubt their legitimacy. Even a lesser consequence, like losing 100 points in a class for cheating on a single test, not only endangers your class rank, but also puts you at risk for losing something far worse: the respect of your teachers, parents, and peers.

The Less Obvious Harms

Even if you get away with cheating, you will suffer the moral and practical consequences of cheating. Morality is a complicated issue, but essentially, you're unfairly skewing the grade curve by making your A more easily attained than the others, you're using someone as a tool to do your work for you (even if you don't think it's worth doing, someone has to, and you're using them), and you're sending a message to your peers that ultimately hurts everybody.

How does it hurt everybody? Well, of all of the reasons not to cheat, there is one that is perhaps both most important and most often overlooked. As pointless as schoolwork might be, cheating prevents you from developing extremely important skills, but most people only notice the underdevelopment of these skills caused by cheating when it is too late and the damage is already done. Let us take the example of math homework, one of the most commonly copied types of assignments because it's difficult, time-consuming, and thought to be useless for non-mathematicians. Imagine that one year you decide that algebra, geometry, and calculus are utterly useless to you, and that cheating is the best way out.

Now, think of what you are losing.

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The Obvious Harms

The Less Obvious Harms

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