Charlene, a 16-year-old student at a high school, found herself faced with a maths test towhich she knew none of the answers.Rather than fail, she took the test out with her and filled inthe answer swith the help of her friends. During a break, shegot back into the classroom withoutbeing seen, crumpled the test with her shoe, and left it lying on the floor. The teacherthought ithadbeen drop pedwhen the testswere collected; shecorrected it, and Charlene received a B. 

Cheating is, of course, nothing new. But today,educators are finding that cheating on the partof students hasbecome more frequent than in the past. Whether it is copying a friend's homework,using a preparedsheeton an exam, stealing advance copies of a final, writing down rules in one’shand, or paying someone else to write a term paper, cheating appearsto have gained acceptanceamong agrowing number of studentsbetween 13 and 19.

In a 1978 study of cheating at twenty-two high schools in Georgia, it was found thatcheating was common among good and poor students alike — although both boys and girls saidthey thought boys cheatedmore. 

Why is student cheating on the rise? No one really knows. Some blame cheating on ageneral loss of good values among today's youth. They point to facts showing increaseddamageofpublic thin gs and school stealing and think that reports, such as Watergate have disappointedyouth about the honesty of people in higher positions. 

Others think that today's youth are far more practical than their forefathers. In the latesixties and e arly seventies, students were filled with imaginations about changing the world, buttoday's students feel great stressto succeed.