Study: 95 percent of high schoolers have cheated at least once

"Cheating has become the students' white-collar crime," Lodi High School Principal Bill Atterberry said. "Much as the employee thinks he deserves to make a personal phone call on the company dime because the company doesn't pay him what he's worth, I'm sure the students rationalize their peccadilloes by ascribing the problem to the teacher (with excuses like): 'He didn't give us enough time to study,' or 'He didn't teach this well enough,' or worse, 'Everyone is doing it, so why shouldn't I?'"

In its quarterly newsletter, Lodi High is sending a letter to parents next week alerting them of what appears to be a growing trend. More than half — 64 percent — of U.S. high school students have cheated on a test, and 30 percent have stolen from a store in the last year, according to a survey released this week.

The same study reports that 95 percent of high schoolers nationwide have cheated at least once during their school careers. Despite the responses, 93 percent of the students said they were satisfied with their personal ethics and character, and 77 percent affirmed that "when it comes to doing what is right, I am better than most people I know."

Both Karissa Kiriu and Jenna Kanegawa, Advanced Placement chemistry students, said that cheating goes on at Tokay High School. "People whisper, text on their cell phones. I try not to listen to them," Kiriu said.

Kanegawa, too, has seen her peers texting and even writing test answers on their arms.

Erik Sandstrom

Principal Erik Sandstrom, however, feels the incidences are lower than in years past due partly because school staff have set clear consequences and have conducted a crackdown to keep cell phones turned off during school hours.

Cheating found even in AP classes

A couple of years ago, Tokay administrators found the highest concentration of cheating in its Advanced Placement courses.

"We've got kids who are in five or six (AP classes) at a time, and there's the pressure to do well in those and college prep classes," Sandstrom said.

At that time, students were texting answers to one another during an examination or even taking photos of the test with camera phones in order to help out someone with the same class later in the day. And, he said, teachers who gave two-day tests and warned students they could not change any answers, photocopied the first day's answers and found students who went back and changed them anyway, likely after they went home and studied some more or got the answers from their peers.

Nationwide student cheaters at a glance

2008
64 percent of students cheated on a test in the past year.
35 percent did so twice or more.
38 percent plagiarized an assignment from the Internet.

2006
60 percent of students cheated on a test in the past year.
35 percent did so twice or more.
33 percent plagiarized an assignment from the Internet.

Source: The Josephson Institute

"Gone are the days of crib sheets when you have all this technology," Sandstrom said. "I think it happens a lot less on our campus now because we had such an increase a few years ago."

In the national survey, the Josephson Institute, a Los Angeles-based ethics institute, surveyed 29,760 students at 100 randomly selected high schools, both public and private. All students in the selected schools were given the survey in class; their anonymity was assured.

Tokay High junior Jon Haley said he definitely knows cheating goes on there because he has friends who do it.

Seth Siddle, also a junior, thinks the punishment should fit the crime.

While a cheater should get a failing grade on a test, the same infraction on a homework assignment isn't as big a deal, he feels, because the teacher is going to know the student doesn't know the curriculum when it comes test time. The student will be awarded a bad grade at that time, he reasons.

According to local principals, cheating isn't limited to any one subject, and Atterberry said teachers don't see it more often in the harder classes, such as science and math.

Bernie Olmos

At Galt High School, Principal Bernie Olmos said there were few cases of cheating. "I can't remember the last time we actually dealt with one," he said.

"Maybe the teachers are dealing with it in the classroom, and there aren't any referrals ... so I guess we're doing pretty good."

Nonetheless, nationwide, cheating in school looks like it's getting worse. In a 2006 survey, 60 percent of students cheated on a test in the past year, and 35 percent did so two times or more time.

From her viewpoint, Lodi High English teacher Alisa Mueller, who previously taught at California State University, Sacramento and Woodbridge School, doesn't believe plagiarism has gotten worse — it's just gotten easier.

Plagiarism, one form of cheating, is simple for today's students who have grown up with the Internet and know they can find finished papers online in a matter of minutes, Mueller said.

"It's too tempting to some kids. The Internet has made it really easy to be lazy with respect to writing," she said.

This school year, she has caught three students doing just that — despite Mueller's warning of how easy it is for her to find out whether something's been illegally copied.

"It's a problem, and I think that parents and students need to understand how serious the consequences can be in college," she said, adding that she's seen firsthand the habits college students brought to CSUS.

The consequences

Atterberry is concerned with the lifetime consequences of cheating. In the newsletter, he points out that a student caught being academically dishonest in college can be expelled, and an employee who does the same may be terminated.

"So you can understand why this is a lesson better learned sooner than later," he said.

District policy permits teachers to give a failing grade on any assignments on which students are caught cheating. They can also be assigned to detention, Saturday school or suspension, although exact figures of how students have recently been disciplined are unavailable.

Barbara Johnston

However, Barbara Johnston, assistant superintendent for secondary education in Lodi Unified, said that she doesn't have a sense that cheating has increased.

"I know it's a constant concern, and it has been even back when I was in school," she said. "It's an ongoing challenge. I feel confident that our teachers and administrators do a good job holding students accountable."

Mueller combats plagiarism by having her students show her numerous drafts and, like Galt High, by using the Web site www.turnitin.com to monitor the recycling of research papers.

"I also get to know a student's voice really well," she said, "So if their paper doesn't sound like them, I know immediately."

At Tokay, Sandstrom started off the school year by distributing a photocopied newspaper article about students in a Southern California school who had to re-take their Advanced Placement exams after the national board found some of them cheated. The grades earned by all of the students who took the test were thrown out, according to the article.

Johnston said there is currently no focused district program or curriculum against cheating.

"Teachers teach about making good choices," she added. "If students make that choice (to cheat), then there are consequences."

What should the punishment be if someone's caught cheating at school?

Asked by reporter Jennifer Bonnett at Tokay High School

Jon Haley
Junior

"I don't know. I guess it should depend on how big the test is."

Seth Siddle
Junior

"If you get caught cheating on a test, you should definitely fail."

Tony Chour
Junior

"They should fail whatever they're cheating on. (Administration) should do something for the guy that was helping him cheat, too."

Jenna Kanegawa
Junior

"It should be based on the severity. The grade really shouldn't count because the teacher wouldn't know how much you knew."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact reporter Jennifer Bonnett at jenniferb@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

Cogito wrote on Dec 7, 2008 3:37 PM:

" OTH, the earlier snide remark about Lawyers and Politicians was an attempt at levity! All good comedy contains a grain of truth though. "

Report Abuse

Cogito wrote on Dec 7, 2008 3:33 PM:

" OTH, Cool story. Shcool is not for everyone. Not doing well in shcool does not mean someone is dumb. I used to have a doctor who quit high shcool to join the military. He got his diploma there, and went to college later. He even went on to become the head of Lodi Memorial Hospital. "

Report Abuse

OTH wrote on Dec 7, 2008 12:49 PM:

" Cogito

I have a nephew who was a high shcool dropout, He is now lawyer. He is recently past his state boards on the first try.

He has a Mensa IQ and school bored him. So he quit. The army kicked him out. He bummed around for a few years and finally decided he wanted a life. "

Report Abuse

edumacation wrote on Dec 7, 2008 12:20 PM:

" LNS quotes;

"Principal Erik Sandstrom, feels the incidences (of cheating) are lower than in years"

"Principal Bernie Olmos said there were few cases of cheating. "I can't remember the last time we actually dealt with one," he said."

"Barbara Johnston, assistant superintendent for secondary education in Lodi Unified, said that she doesn't have a sense that cheating has increased"

Why is it that the kids AND the research demonstrates that cheating is in an epidemic?

Perhaps the admistrators should get their heads out of the sand?

We need our edumacators to refrain from SUPPORTING student cheating by their inaction. It's obvious that many students have no ethics or fear of consequences. Lets see some real consequences for cheating. "

Report Abuse

Cogito wrote on Dec 7, 2008 9:17 AM:

" Giovanina, and the good thing is that there is no shortage of idiots to surround them with! "

Report Abuse

Giovanina wrote on Dec 6, 2008 10:22 PM:

" Cheating is not that promenient because many kids are too lazy to cheat along with doing their homework. Usually, the ones that are cheating are looking at answers from the person next to them. Because the teachers knows who the cheaters are, they surround them with the idiots. Therefore, the final result is still an F. "

Report Abuse

dogs4you wrote on Dec 6, 2008 6:22 PM:

" Lots of young people cheating, try that in real life, especially if your boss cheated you on our pay check, it will all come rushing back to you. "

Report Abuse

Cogito wrote on Dec 6, 2008 6:17 PM:

" With all these dishonest youngsters, looks like there will be plenty of people in the future who become Lawyers and Politicians. "

Report Abuse

Jennifer Bonnett wrote on Dec 6, 2008 5:52 PM:

" Thanks, radone. I noticed that too when they were published in the newspaper this morning. Our mistake. "

Report Abuse

davidd wrote on Dec 6, 2008 5:09 PM:

" Perhaps if instructors gave assessments that weren't multiple-choice or matching, it wouldn't be as easy as it is to cheat.

Granted, essay-type questions take a lot longer to grade, but they give you a far better assessment than the alternative. "

Report Abuse

radone wrote on Dec 6, 2008 4:13 PM:

" Jon and Seth's pictures are switched... "

Report Abuse

Bob Hussein Loblaw wrote on Dec 6, 2008 9:10 AM:

" I remember a dude in high school who had to recite a Hamlet soliloquy from memory. He had it on a piece of paper attached to the top of his shoe under the laces. He was up in front of the class struggling to see the soliloquy without looking too obvious - hilarious. It was probably way more work to come up with the inane cheating scam than to just learn the stupid soliloquy. "

Report Abuse

Curveball wrote on Dec 6, 2008 6:45 AM:

" Get your head out of the sand!
"At Galt High School, principal Bernie Olmos said there were few cases of cheating. "I can't remember the last time we actually dealt with one," he said.

"Maybe the teachers are dealing with it in the classroom, and there aren't any referrals ... so I guess we're doing pretty good" "

Report Abuse

Comments on this story are now closed.

Archives

Story Tools

Indexes