To cheat or not to cheat

Well, that is the question that the seniors at Centerburg High School had to deal with this past month. Apparently many, if not most of them chose to cheat. I have to admit that I have been tempted to cheat at times in my life while going to school and one time I did actually plagiarize someone else’s material for a report. It is amazing to me that I still remember that incident even though it was almost 40 years ago. I believe we all know that cheating is wrong, yet sometimes we fall because of different pressures and sometimes we cheat. What I think made this situation different was that it was ‘public’ rather than just one individual doing it. The Bible teaches that there is a major difference when we do something wrong and because of shame we keep it private, compared to doing something wrong and having no shame and doing it publically. Private wrong doing should be dealt with privately, but sometimes public wrong doing needs to be dealt with publically. Even though it was a very harsh punishment that the school board gave by cancelling the graduation, I believe it was right and I think it should have been supported instead of undermined by the parents. I think the school board sent a very strong message to the young people of that community that cheating will not be tolerated and that there would be consequences. I am pretty sure when this issue comes up again, and I am sure it will, students will speak out against it, which is the right thing to do.