Cheating on Exams

We are all told that we have to go to school so we can learn things and get a good education because if we don't then we won't get into a good college and we won't get a good high paying job out in the real world, that "we'll be stuck working at McDonald's". And yes I understand that it is very important to learn things like social skills and cooperation, but I’m sorry when am I ever going to need to know how to graph Y=4+6sin(1/2(X-3))? NEVER! We are told that we have to go to school every day and that we need to learn something new every day, so we do. We all go to class and sit there and try and pay attention while the teacher is going way to fast in math class while standing in front of the board and you have no idea what is going on. We try and learn these "pointless" things so that way we'll do well on the chapter test when it comes around.

At least that’s how it used to be. We would try and learn these things, but now-a-days, more and more students are starting to cheat on tests. Yes, I know it is bad to cheat and you should never do it, so why are kids cheating on tests? It's because society is starting to care more and more about kids having "good" grades. Well as a result to thing, kids are cheating on tests so they get the right answers and they get the good grade.

Now I’m not saying that everybody cheats on tests, because I know a lot of people who study their butts off and get the good grades they deserve. I wonder if kids would be more apt to actually learning the material and asking questions when they don't understand something, if grades weren't so important. Would we be more willing to try, to put more effort in, than just relying on someone else’s answers to get good grades? I know a lot of parents expect good grades out of their children, and that is a lot of pressure. Maybe if our parents weren't always hounding us with the expectation of having A’s and B's we would actually learn things for ourselves.