By: Timothy Moon

   A school valedictorian is a student who achieves the highest academic rank. The highest GPA. The highest score on tests. There sits the school valedictorian, two-thirds into the final exam and nearly finished. Next to them is a well-known cheater who has the answers to every test. They finished the test five minutes ago and are now leering towards everyone else’s papers. In the end, when the score results come out, the school valedictorian gets a full score, while the cheater gets one point below them.

   This scene often raises the question: is it right that someone who does not work as hard and truthfully gets the same grades as someone who puts hours upon hours a week into studying? The idea that a GPA that is determined by a student’s academic performance on tests and assignments can be so easily fraudulent is frustrating to those who take the long way to an A. 

   “It is kind of unfair, but I know that all of those resources are available to me, and I’m taking the route that I’m choosing. If I wanted to be like them, then I would use that as well,” an anonymous student at Marriotts Ridge stated. Many students can agree that it is unfair, yet so many students still ask for answers to a test. The next question that is brought up is why do so many students cheat?

   Cheating used to require an immense amount of effort, such as writing notes on hands and whispering to each other, but now there is a problem with its ease of access. When searching for a question on Google, the first response on the list is an AI-generated response. Students, without even knowing, are influenced by AI. With every student having a phone or a laptop and AI being one click away, temptation doesn’t turn into a detrimental idea. Given that, the answer is right in front of them every time. 

   For many, it is not even seen as cheating but rather as working hard. With limited time in students’ daily lives, it is hard to see the worth in doing what many call busy work when time can be saved to scroll on reels for another hour.

     “It is just the adrenaline rush,” a student at Marriotts Ridge stated. While some cheat for efficiency, others do it for the love of the game. This unique student decides to play the reprobate in teachers’ grade books, and they take it as a challenge to see how far they can take it before getting caught. They might have the time to study and not require cheating, but the thrill of outsmarting the system becomes more interesting than the actual material. Until they get caught, it is seen as all fun and games.

   Many students end up at this fork because of extrinsic motivations. Whether it is pressure from family and friends or pressure from trying to get into a good college, there are lots of different factors that play into why a student may cheat. When students feel the urge to take a shortcut, it is rarely because they are not smart enough to do so. Usually it is because they are overwhelmed with work. “I’m not able to put the effort into it. You know, during that time, let’s say it’s too late in the evening. It’s just the only way,” mentioned another student at MRHS. With parents and college watching over the shoulders of every student, the risk of getting caught seems copiously less intimidating than the low GPA. If society creates a norm that everyone must get an A to be successful, school begins to become a game of best numbers rather than about education.

   In the end, an unfair part about cheating is that, on paper, a cheater and a hard worker look identical. When they apply to school and internships, the admissions officers see the same rank and GPA. However, as one student mentioned, “When they apply to colleges or internships, they’re going to see them as the same, but I think they’ll be able to tell the difference. When they actually go there, they won’t actually be as smart as the person who tries.” When it comes to important, life-saving subjects like medicine and architecture, cheating though the basics may seem simple, although when AI can’t help these students anymore, it could cost the lives of many and result in critical errors in important situations. The problem is not about who gets the A today; it is about who actually knows what they are doing when it gets important. The system may not be able to tell the difference between the two, but the student will.

Disclaimer: Due to the nature of this article, all students quoted in this writing will remain anonymous.