School is becoming easier for many students, but not in the way that teachers had hoped it would. More and more students are cheating in schools all across the country. They are using their notes, cheating off of other students, and now, more than ever, extensively using cell phones.

The young kids today are expected to be given what they ask for. Because of this, many adolescents do not take school seriously. Teens are used to having everything handed to them, even when it comes to grades.

Young children are adapting to conniving ways to get around any challenging hardship that they have to face. Tests and quizzes are large indicators of students’ creativity—in no positive manner. It may seem that they have their books under their desk, but they are not blind. Children know that if a notebook is left open and stashed under some extra books, it could be an essential asset for them “earning” a high grade. Technically, they need not even have to have books anywhere near them. A tiny piece of paper hidden in a pocket of the jeans can do the trick.

Going to school with the same students for more than a decade creates a mutual bond—one which guarantees that a student will do anything in their power in order to ensure that their relative or close classmate does not fail an examination. This is why when teens take a test early in the day, other kids flock to them for answers faster than a leopard about to be fed at the zoo. Refusing to help other students prone to cheating is often not an option, as such rebels may begin to fear being bullied for not helping. In high school, no one wants to be alone, unpopular, and have nobody to hang out with (especially not for such a seemingly mundane reason).

One of the biggest ways a student cheats on a test is via cell phone. Looking up answers has never been so easy. Taking pictures of study guides also provides an easy way out. In the past, students were more trustworthy and worked more diligently because of the lack of technology. In a poll found on OEDb (Open Education Database.org) 95% of students that cheat and never get caught.

Teachers have to keep a keen eye on every student in the classroom. That is why these suggestions could have a profound effect on the way students take a test in the classroom. Offering three or four bonus points on a test if a kid gives up their phone is a great way to ensure a student will not cheat using a phone. Making sure adolescents do not have their hands in any pockets and that their books are completely shut can also guarantee a kid will try their best. Making different versions of tests and rearranging questions are also tactics essential to the effort of discouraging cheating.

If cheating students do not get caught then they will not stop. Such habits can be carried on throughout college, where exam fraud is not tolerated; thus, if cheating is not weeded out during adolescents’ high school years, their entire educational careers may be at stake. While the path of faking knowledge of material seems to be an easy and quick shortcut through high school, its consequences stretch far beyond the confines of grades 9 through 12.