The Pitch wishes to recognize the drastic levels of cheating that occur at WJ. Walking through the halls one can see a myriad of different situations where students are cheating off of each other. It comes in many manifestations: asking how the test was, asking what was on the test, asking what a question was or even asking for an answer. The amount of cheating has only increased with the advancements in technology. Through group chats, pictures and face-to-face conversations, it can be assumed that everyone at WJ has been a part of some form of cheating.

Teachers have increasingly cracked down on the cheating epidemic with Turnitin.com and enforcing the Code of Academic Integrity that WJ provides, by making students sign tests and quizzes to honor that they have not seen or shared any material that appears on the assessment. Some teachers resort to calling out students in front of the class to publicly shame them for submitting dishonest work. Even with all of these precautionary methods, teachers can not see everything.

As a high school newspaper run by students, we have learned that the act of plagiarism has serious repercussions. Once WJ students branch out beyond high school, they must learn that what might slide by now will not be tolerated in college or in the workforce. Colleges take cheating and plagiarism seriously, which seniors have seen through the application process where each college asks applicants to confirm that all answers are one’s own work.

It is not that hard to simply stop asking what was on a test and actually sit down, study and master all material that could possibly be asked. If students adopted this mindset, it would eliminate the reputation that WJ has gained over the past few years and also eliminate the possibility of students receiving zeros on assignments.