Dear Eagles Eye readers,

If someone called you a cheater, would you be offended?

Merriam Webster defines the word cheat as the following:

1. verb — to break a rule or law usually to gain an advantage at something.

Break a rule. Or a law. Sounds like serious stuff. And to gain an advantage? Who would do that? Unfortunately, it turns out that the answer is lots of people.

Cheating comes in many different forms and is all too common. Regardless, whether it is on a big test or a homework sheet, it’s always wrong. 

People offer up all sorts of reasons to cheat. Sometimes students forget to study or do their homework. Sometimes they just never tried to study or were too lazy to get help from a teacher. So they just get a friend to snap a picture of their work and send it to them. Problem solved. Right?

Wrong.

You may get good grades on school work and homework due to cheating, but what about when you have a test, and cheating isn’t an option because of some “unlucky” reason? You’re about to have some serious issues because you don’t even know what you’re doing. 

Let’s say you make good grades. They are so good that you are ranked in the top 10 percent, which can get pretty competitive. You cheat and cheat and cheat, but no one knows. What happens when You’ve cheated your way through important classes and it comes time to take college readiness exams? How are you supposed to do well on these exams and prove you belong in your class rank when you don’t know anything?

Prove to yourself and others around you that you work hard for your grades, you earned them. Prove that you didn’t take the easy way out. 

Stop cheating yourselves Eagles. You are so much better than that.

Sincerely,

Anonymous