School is stressful. Sometimes it can all get overwhelming; making your head spin like a tornado ripping through the landscape. That’s something we can all agree on.

However, what we don’t agree on, is cheating.

Most people would say cheating is bad, but some disagree, are jaded or simply don’t care.

The reality is, cheating is a problem at Akins right now, and it needs to stop immediately. Unfortunately, the problem seems to be worse among the students who should be setting the example for the rest of the campus — the seniors.

The pressure of battling it out to be in the top 10, 8, or 5 percent seems to be driving students who should know better. There’s a huge push to be the highest ranked in the class, instead of what school should really is about — to become educated.

Cheating can take all sorts of different forms ranging from looking over the “smart kid’s” shoulders for the answers to sharing copies of an answer key photo snapped nefariously by a cell phone.

Just because school is hard and you don’t want to put forth the extra effort, doesn’t give you a reason to cheat. It completely defeats the purpose of you being here. You are only cheating yourself.

It’s not an excuse to say “But most of the classes I’m taking won’t help me with what I want to do in the future, so what’s the point?”

I completely agree. I love math, but the chances of Geometry helping you to be a dancer for the Rockettes are very slim.

You may not want to hear this, but school is made difficult for a reason.

Taking Geometry will teach you how to get through something you don’t enjoy. You may love to dance, but more than likely there will be bad days, or steps to be a Rockette that you won’t enjoy. So the determination you learn from truly working hard in your Geometry class despite not enjoying it, directly helps you in the real world.

Have you ever noticed, how tired your parents are when you both return home in the evening? They’re not tired because they’re old. They’re tired because working in the real world is hard work, and in the real world you have to make it on your own with no one to cheat off of.

Cheating will only make college and the real world more of a shock when you leave the sheltered confines of school.

If you’re having trouble, ask for help. All of the teachers on campus have tutoring hours, and there are even some who would be available to help you even if you’re not in their class.

Buck up, do your own work, and if you need it, ask for help.

School is a headache at times, but cheating should not be your Advil.