Cheating in a school setting is not entirely abnormal. It is something students have done for years, but it is also something that happens to be completely unacceptable.

Students tend to be faced with incredible challenges throughout their years in an educational environment. Some students collapse under pressure and end up cheating on assignments and tests to get good grades, but in doing so they compromise their own education.

Math teacher James Sterner has been a teacher at Susquehannock long enough to become accustomed to students and their habits. He is, like many other teachers, passionate about finding ways to help students and keep them from cheating.

“It teaches a bad solution to a problem we all face. Cheating creates an out that does not work in the real word,” said Sterner.

One of the worst consequences of cheating is simply the fact that no learning takes place once you become dependent on it. Sterner has his own system to prevent cheating in his classroom, and so far it has been effective.

“I try to create an atmosphere where cheating isn’t necessary,” said Sterner. “Where students prepare enough in the classroom, so they don’t feel like they need to rely on cheating.”

English teacher Marti Smith has her own opinions on why it is students cheat or attempt to cheat.

“I think there is a lot of pressure on grades and getting A’s, and I think it would be a lot nicer to focus on the quality of the work for that individual student,” said Smith. “Obviously, not every student is a straight A student and being able to accept students for who they are would really help.”

Smith also thinks students don’t cheat because they don’t care or because they are reckless.

“Students genuinely do care about doing well, and they do like to do well, and if they didn’t care, they wouldn’t attempt to cheat,” said Smith. “I think if students try to cheat, they either forgot to study, they were nervous, they are comparing themselves to someone else, or they just don’t think they’ll do well.”

The plan to prevent cheating is just as important as the actual problem at hand.

“Cheating is one of the worst things you can do in an academic setting, so punishing it will create an example and make people not want to cheat.”

Freshman Emma Steinaur has been able to maintain steady grades without relying on cheating. She has even offered her help to students during class. She tries to better their understanding when she can if they don’t want to visit a teacher for help.

“Students cheat because they feel like they are going to disappoint people. They cheat to get a better grade,” said Steinaur. “You aren’t actually learning the information, and when you can’t sit next to the people you depend on, you aren’t going to know what to do.”

There are always better alternatives to cheating, and almost any teacher or student can agree relying on cheating will only hurt work ethics later on.