Cheating Harvard Students

Cheating Harvard Students September 17, 2013 Students across American college campuses cheat. Not just at Harvard (photo credit: chensiyuan). Harvard students arent the only ones who cheat. Theres an article in The New Republic entitled Students Everywhere Cheat Not Just Harvards Freshmen that details just how many American high school students admit to having cheated on tests and homework assignments. And, of course, since cheaters arent exactly the most honest people, imagine how many also cheat but dont own up to it! According to the article in The New Republic, In a survey published Thursday in the Harvard Crimson, 42 percent of incoming freshmen admitted to having cheated on a homework assignment in high school and 10 percent admitted to cheating on an exam. Just think of the real numbers! The article in The New Republic also discusses SparkNotes quite a bit, a company founded by Harvard graduates of course. All Harvard students polled by the writer of this article admitted to using SparkNotes in one way or the other while in high school. But is using SparkNotes cheating? Admittedly, some high school students use SparkNotes instead of reading the actual texts, but others use SparkNotes in addition to reading the texts to gain a better understanding. Understanding Shakespeare, after all, is tough stuff. According to the article in The New Republic, SparkNotes itself denies its role as a cheating aid. We’re here to help you learn, not to help you cheat, the site claims. Sometimes you dont understand your teacher, your textbooks make no sense, and you have to read sixteen chapters by tomorrow. SparkNotes is a resource you can turn to when you’re confuzzled.' We happen to agree. Copying homework assignments and using crib sheets on tests now thats cheating. Using SparkNotes? Its not cheating. And, contrary to what the writer of the article opines, its not even cheating yourself. Without SparkNotes, many students would have no clue what Hamlet is about. With SparkNotes, they might remember some of the themes of Hamlet for years to come well after high school.