My position regarding academic integrity
My position regarding academic integrity is that cheating is not acceptable and should be not be condoned in learning institutions. In this light, students who engage in deception tend to overlook their potential and develop a notion that cheating is the only way in which people can succeed in life. There are many reasons why I argue that cheating is unacceptable in learning institutions. First, cheating goes against ethical principles, which are the foundation of human behaviors. In this light, cheating violates the policy of honesty and integrity. Secondly, People who cheat in the exam also don’t perform well in the respective examination due to the panic and tension.
The fear of being caught and the consequences may not allow them to engage their mind and realize the best properly. Third, cheating is not acceptable since it helps brew the character of corruption and extortion. People who cheat in exams later become very corrupt and violate social morals since they always believe in short cuts to achieve their dreams. Among other reasons, I greatly feel that cheating should be condemned to promote academic integrity in learning institutions. However, some students argue that cheating has become the norm of the day and is experienced everywhere, be it in government, private sectors, and even in some churches. This is a bad attitude that needs to be changed immediately.
Question 2:
It is the responsibility of the parents to inform the students about the consequences of cheating. Parents spend a lot of time with their children and have the solemn duty of inculcating in them a character of honesty and integrity from a tender age to adult age. If parents take sufficient time to mold their children’s personalities and make them understand the negative consequences of cheating, then cheating would greatly be minimized in various learning institutions. Some of the parents are still teachers and multiple lecturers. In classroom settings, they can inform the students of the negative consequences of cheating too. However, it is sad to note that most of the students tend to ignore such advice and only become responsible after being caught and undergoing some severe punishments. This is when most of the students can talk to others about the negative consequences of cheating. Nonetheless, some students argue that it is their responsibility to stop cheating, and nobody else can change that attitude if they are adamant about changing it. The change begins with the students.
Part 2: Questions to reflect on:
People cheat for many reasons best known to them. First, most people cheat because of insufficient preparation; thus, they are gripped by the fear of failure. This kind of concern is the pushing factor since they still wish to achieve a better grade. Second, people cheat due to the dismay of the unknown. They fear getting poor grades and would want to be seen as better performers. Some also cheat due to peer influence. I learned that cheating is wrong from my parents, who had undergone the entire education system. They gave me some of the real-life examples of people whose lives were adversely affected due to suspension or expulsion from school. So I have been aware that cheating is terrible since childhood.
Cheating is seen as wrong since it undermines the ethical principle that tends to promote morality within society. Lying is also wrong since it enables people to get merit where they don’t deserve and undermine the virtue of hard work within learning institutions. The short terms pros of cheating are attaining better grades, while short term pros are becoming incompetent, and termination of the learning process due to suspension and expulsion. On the other hand, long term pros may be becoming successful in life while long term cons may include termination of employment contract in case of malpractice such as corruption at working place.