I was raised to have a very strong moral and ethical code, and cheating has always seemed abhorrent to me from the first time I can remember being aware of it. Perhaps this kind of morality, similar to others like those regarding personal relationships and possessions, must be learned young if they are to be learned at all. According to J.D. Heyman et al. In their article, "Psssst...What's the Answer?," the authors state that "Anita Cava, co-director of the University of Miami Ethics Program, believes ethics should be taught as early as kindergarten" (Heyman et al., 37). This might not be a bad idea. At that age, children are not under all of the pressure that college students cite as a reasonable excuse to cheat. This makes it easier for them to understand and admit that cheating is wrong -- just ask any five-year-old if cheating is okay and see what answer you get. A loud "no" indicating the obviousness of the answer wouldn't be too surprising in most cases. Explaining why cheating is wrong at this age might help it stay engrained, and perhaps the number of students cheating in college would begin to decline after the program takes effect. This would be a proactive way to stop cheating, rather than simply identifying and dealing with perpetrators after the fact; curing the problem instead of just the symptom. Cheating isn't just a problem at college, and it needs to be addressed sooner. Kindergarten might seem too early to some parents and educators, but the fact is that students are cheating in higher number at younger ages....

It is a very prevalent problem in high schools specifically because the pressure to get into a good college is so high, as Stephens notes in "Justice or Just Us? What to Do about Cheating." This article also identifies a major gap that existed in previous research -- the exact definition of cheating. In previous studies, Stephens notes, "the researcher decides which behaviors constitute cheating, and students are only asked to report how often they engage in those behaviors" (Stephens, 40). When Stephens asked the students (via a questionnaire) which behaviors they felt constituted cheating, he was surprised to learn that very few students considered things like getting help when individual work was specifically requested as cheating (Stephens, 40). This gap in the students' understanding of what cheating was is also something that could proactively address the issue of cheating before it takes hold. By helping younger students to understand what cheating is and why it is wrong, we will hopefully prevent the future temptation to cave to expectations and other pressure by cheating in college and life.
Cheating is wrong no matter how anyone tries to justify it. There can be the most extraordinary pressure or the most meaningless result, but the fact is if it's wrong in one situation then it's wrong in all of them. The sooner people get this message, the more the world will start turning around, demanding less and not promising things so out of reach, and the less temptation there will be for cheating in the first…