"New Ways of Cheating?" - by Rev. Weldon Bares

An article in a national publication was entitled, “eCheating: Students spin a Web of deceit on tests.”

The article observed, “Everything’s going digital these days, including cheating. As students gain access to sophisticated gadgets at school and at home, educators are on the lookout for new kinds of cheating.”

A vice chancellor at a community college in California was quoted as saying, “There’s an epidemic of cheating.”

Common Sense Media pointed out that over 35% of teenagers aged 13-17 have used cell phones to cheat. Commercial websites actually sell sophisticated devices to help students be more effective in the art of cheating.

A sign of the times? Maybe so, but wrong is still wrong. One of the Ten Commandments proclaims, “You shall not steal.” (Exodus 20:15)

Dennis Prager made a film called “For Goodness Sake!” In it, he showed a mother defending her son’s cheating in school by saying, “It’s very competitive out there. And if he doesn’t cheat, he won’t get into good schools; everybody else does it.”

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The film then flashes to a scene where this same woman is being wheeled into surgery. With a frightened look on her face, she asked the doctor, “Sir, are you confident about the procedure that you are doing?” The doctor answered, “I don’t know, lady. I cheated my way through medical school.”