Recently, there has been an incident at WHS of several  students stealing the math midterm exam from their teacher and then sharing it with some classmates. 

An aspect of this situation that people need to be aware of is the domino effect this incident has on the rest of WHS, and how negatively the students’ actions will continue to play a role in the school.

Not only did the students who were caught receive some form of punishment, but so were the rest of the students planning on taking that test. As a result of these students’ actions, the math department had to create a whole new version of the exam. Many students addressing the issue claimed that it was supposedly more difficult. Not only did this inconvenience the students taking the exam, but even more so the teachers who had to make it.

It was extremely disrespectful of students to go behind their teacher’s back, as well as completely unacceptable to have stolen property that didn’t belong to them. Because of this, the level of trust among the teachers and students definitely has decreased greatly. This will have an impact among all students in the class, not only those who cheated on the exam, which is completely unfair. The class environment definitely has changed because of this, creating a more strict class, where the teacher has to be fully aware of the possibility of cheating.

Cheating doesn’t just physically affect the class, it also can make the teacher of this course feel unrespected, if students think they can sneak around and do whatever they want. Not to mention, students who end up getting away with cheating are putting their peers who are being honest and receiving lower marks at a disadvantage. When moving on to college or trying to get into certain clubs like National Honor Society, those who are cheating in order to get a higher GPA are not only being untruthful, but they are lowering the chances of those who are not cheating. It is extremely inconsiderate to so many people, and the effects it has on people are endless.

In general, the incident of cheating on the exam has not only affected those involved but their peers and other teachers as well. This is why people need to have more consideration for others, and not only think about themselves in certain situations. What happened simply is not okay, and students need to realize that they should not throw their morals away just to get an A on an exam.