A new way to handle cheating

     Every student has heard the speech from their teacher’s before, the “we have a no nonsense policy for cheating” speech. It makes sense, cheating cannot benefit students in the future and should, therefore, be stopped. However, this iron fisted approach to rule enforcement may not be the correct way to prevent further infractions.

    Strict punishment may work to stop some students from cheating in the future, but most likely there's a reason for why they cheated in the first place and punishment isn't going to change it. It’s generally not students in average classes that are inclined to cheat, but ones taking advanced or AP classes. This has to do with the increased stress and desire to succeed from students taking these kinds of classes. While punishment may convince them to not cheat in the future, it’s not going to help the student learn to manage their school work better.

    Instead of suspension, or even expulsion, schools should make an effort to get to the bottom of the issue. Allowing the students to meet with counselors or even their teachers to work through the issues they are having with their work that led to them cheating in the first place. Using this method, students can find ways to manage their time better, or even ask their teacher for an extension