Adsum

May 2002

Cheating in Schools and Colleges

From the book, More Answers to Today’s Moral Problems
by Very Rev. Francis J. Connell, C.SS.R., S.T.D., L.L.D., L.H.D.

Question: It seems that much cheating is going on in school and colleges. The prevalence of this practice in American educational institutions is astounding. Apparently some young persons see no harm in cheating. What is to be said of the morality of this mode of conduct? Is it a sin, and if so, against which commandment? What of the gravity of a sin that may be committed by cheating?

Answer:

Cheating in school is a sin against the eighth commandment. In other words, it is a lie. The pupil who hands in an examination paper asserts implicitly (and sometimes explicitly) that he has used no other help that those that are permitted, such as (in some instances) a dictionary. He is understood to state that he has made no use of such forbidden helps as hidden notes, secret communication with the others who are taking the examination, etc. Hence, if he has made use of prohibited help, his submitting of a paper is a lie in action.

Cheating may also be a sin against the seventh commandment, a sin of injustice. For ex-ample, if a pupil through cheating wins a valuable prize, a scholarship, or a cherished honor, he is violating commutative justice, equivalent to theft, against the person whose honest efforts ac-tually entitled him to the prize or the honor. The cheat may also violate charity and legal justice-that is, if through his dishonest methods he manages to pass an examination that wins for him a post of responsibility for which he is actually incompetent. This would be true of a student who, by cheating, gained admission to the medical profession where his ineptitude may do much harm. This would also be applicable to the law student, and above all to the candidate for the priesthood, who would thus unjustly fain admission to their respective professions.

Cheating in a case where no matter of great importance would depend on the examination would be a venial sin. But when a valuable prize or an honor of great distinction was thus won, or when the falsification may be seriously harmful to society, the cheater would be guilty of mortal sin.

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