By Brooke Noel Moore Richard Parker 9th Edition, Essay Example

One moral dilemma many students face at a young age is how to act if they find out that their friend is cheating on schoolwork. Various ethical issues are at stake that can potentially jeopardize a friendship, undermine loyalty between the two individuals involved, and ultimately destroy trust. Cheating in school thwarts academic integrity, which is an important aspect of the learning and empirical process that helps students develop their cognitive abilities. However, students who cheat often have motives for doing so such as parental pressure and lack of ample time, which does not justify cheating but creates a more nuanced moral dilemma. While cheating on schoolwork thwarts academic integrity, on a greater scale, it does a disservice to the individual who is engaging in the cheating. As a result, while other students are encouraged to report students they find out are cheating, it is not their moral prerogative to do so. Individuals are accountable for their own actions and not the actions of others as long as others are not put in harm’s way.

Cheating is a personal issue rather than a public one because of the harm it does to a person on an individual level rather than on society at-large. Students have a variety of reasons to cheat on their homework, which creates certain short-term benefits for the cheater but a long-term disservice to their overall development as students and as human beings. If students fail to meet parental expectations with regards to their grades, they avoid being reprimanded by cheating. Others argue that everyone cheats, so cheating is not inherently unethical. Pressure from parents to get good grades should never propel an individual to cheat on tests or homework because of the detriments that entail in the long run. Getting caught cheating often results in severe punishment such as getting kicked out of school. As such, one incurs a reputation as someone who is untrustworthy, dishonest, and lazy, and many schools would deny entrance to a person they perceive as morally bankrupt. The ramifications of cheating are immense, but from a utilitarian perspective, others should not report those who cheat.

References

Moore, B.N. & Parker, R. (1991). Critical thinking. United States: Mayfield Publishing Company

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