Harsher Punishments for Cheating

          By having harsher punishments in schools, we would stand a better chance of lowering the amount of cheating done in schools. "In a survey of 24,000 students at 70 high schools, Donald McCabe (Rutgers University) found that 64 percent of students admitted to cheating on a test, 58 percent admitted to plagiarism and 95 percent said they participated in some form of cheating, whether it was on a test, plagiarism or copying homework."( McCabe, plagiarism.org, 2017). This shows that students don't really care that they are cheating. With such high percents of students found cheating in this study, harsher punishments need to installed in schools. If they aren't currently afraid of the possible repercussions of being caught cheating. We need to change their mind and make sure they don't cheat, by having harsher punishments for cheating we can make sure they think twice before possibly cheating. Whether it be automatically failing the class or possible expulsion. 

          While harsher punishments for cheating are one route to go, there is always more than one option to solve a problem. Instead of having harsher punishments Denise Pope thinks, "Do you know the name of every child in your classroom? Do you know their interests, do you take the time to answer every question? If not, that’s not a climate of care and not a fertile ground for learning. We found that students who really believe they belong in the classroom and really feel teacher support are less likely to cheat."( Pope, neatoday.org, 2012). Instead of having harsher punishments, maybe we need to change the way students think. By making them think that they are in a caring climate, they will not be as likely to cheat. They will be more open to asking for help and working with the teacher and fellow students to study and understand the topic better instead of cheating. While harsher punishments may risk angering the student and other people in the community, and cause problems for everyone. A simpler and more caring approach may be the best way to solve this problem. 
          I believe that there shouldn't be harsher punishments for cheating. Already failing the test or the assignment is already a good punishment. Anyways, the student will still need to continue to show up to that class and deal with that teacher. Which hopefully they feel some guilt, and realize that what they did was wrong and hopefully they change for the better. School is also a place to learn, so by failing their assignment or test. They learn that cheating isn't a good thing, but if you give harsher punishments. You will only create resentment and piss more students, which could hurt their learning more. Also, cheating will only hurt a student in the long run. Once they enter the workforce, they won't be able to cheat. It's either you get your work done, or you get fired. Maybe if they didn't cheat and did their work, they would have learned more that would've helped them more in their job. By cheating, the student is only cheating their self out of learning more, and becoming better at their job.