Why is the phrase “everyone cheats” tossed around so casually? That phrase should hold
power, but, instead, everyone is desensitized to it. The COVID-19 pandemic felt dystopian in its
own right, but it also seems to have bred a new type of dystopia where academic dishonesty is
a social norm.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, I had barely experienced high school, but I don’t remember
cheating being as normalized and prominent as it is now. At the very least, it wasn’t broadcast in
the same way. It is common knowledge that “everyone cheats,” and to fully maintain academic
honesty is a rarity. Before the pandemic, cheating was known to be immoral, and students
treated it accordingly; when one made the decision to be academically dishonwest, the
implications of this decision were at least somewhat considered. Now, since cheating has
become so easy to get away with, and the majority of students treat it as normal, no one gives it
a second thought. More than this, it has become the obvious solution to all academic issues.
Even teachers are conditioned to mass cheating; teachers now tend to assume the worst of
students, and rightly so. Our generation, post-COVID especially, has not proven to be
academically trustworthy, so why should teachers not assume the worst? Last year, one of my
teachers asked everyone who had cheated on a test in high school to raise their hand. Three
people kept their hands down.
There is so much pressure put on students from all angles to get stellar grades that students
forget what school is really about. If society placed less of an emphasis on surface-level
success and, instead, focused on the reward of working hard, feeling accomplished and gaining
valuable knowledge throughout highschool, I truly believe students would find school more
enjoyable, cheating would be lessened, and mental health status would improve.
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