THE POLITICS OF LIES AND DECEIT. WHY DO PEOPLE COPY IN EXAMS?
THE POLITICS OF LIES AND DECEIT. WHY DO PEOPLE COPY IN EXAMS?

Summary/Abstract: Cheating and copying in exams in schools and universities is not only an unethical behavior, but a genuinely widespread phenomenon, stemming from the very nature of the public school system. The present paper aims at approaching the issue of cheating and copying at exams, from high-school to university level and beyond, in the public life, politics, at exams for getting a job, encountered at both young students and adults. A phenomenon spanning countries, going beyond national borders that has persisted all along the years and adapted to modern technology. The analysis focuses on students who copy at the exams, professors who cheat at the tenure exam, supervisors who tolerate cheating and helping at exams are all aspects each and every one of us has faced whether in one’s personal studies and professional experience or coping with one’s school children school problems in order to avoid this mass, generalized phenomenon. The main research method employed for the present presentation is participant and non-participant observation, years of work experience, being drawn up from the point of view of a keen observer of the phenomenon backed by recent studies on the topic. The results of the study show that the reason why people resort to this are varied, the most relevant perhaps, being the attempt at achieving more than one could possibly do and for increasing self-esteem or gaining the desired outcomes easy as possible. To conclude, the way numerous studies show, there is a growing concern for the phenomenon, which spans countries, from Europe to the US and other, while the future looks worrying once the educational system of a country is being forced into on-line study which is shown to lessen the quality of education and fair assessment.

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