School Cheating Behavior

Abstract

paper, letting others copy a homework paper, plagiarizing, and ghostwriting, to name just a few. These types of behavior can be traced in history through thousands of years. Brickman (1961) reported that during the civil service examinations in ancient China tests were given in individual cubicles to prevent examinees from looking at the test papers of others, that examinees were searched for notes before they entered the cubicles, that the death penalty was in effect for both examinees and examiners if anyone was found guilty of cheating; but cheating still occurred. In modern society, Brickman continued, cheating is a frequent occurrence. In this regard, Zastrow (1970) provided evidence of a 40% incidence of cheating among graduate students. In a study by Schab (1969), approximately 24% of the girls and 20% of the boys admitted that they first began cheating in the first grade, 17% of the girls and 15% of the boys began in the eighth grade, and 13% of the girls and 9% of the boys began in the seventh grade. It would seem, then, that cheating is currently widespread in the American education