Children are expected to learn more or acquire more knowledge at a younger age.  I remember when I went to kindergarten I learned my letters, colors, and numbers while I was there.  Now children are expected to know them before they enter kindergarten.  Some parents may blame these added pressures onto our children due to No Child Left Behind mandates or our societies higher expectations of children.  These added pressures may also contribute to many of our children in elementary grade schools and especially high schools to cheat.

Why Do Children Cheat at School?

No matter if your child is an elementary school student or a high school student, your child may have either felt tempted or may have already cheated on a test or written assignment at school.  Children can cheat by copying answers on an assignment or written exam, or have someone else do their work for them (i.e. have a another student write their report or project for them and then they, the student, claims it as his or her own).  Many parents wonder why do children cheat on these items at school?  Don't they understand the consequences to their actions?  Listed below are some reasons why children will cheat on a variety of tasks at school:

  • Don't understand the material or subject matter
  • Feel pressured to get straight A's
  • Feel pressured to do well in classes in order to have a chance to obtain a scholarship
  • Believe if they don't they will lose participating in extracurricular activities (i.e. many states have state law that students have to earn C or above in classes or they can lose out on participating in extracurricular activities for a certain period of time)
  • Help their friends out that may be struggling
  • Believe they need to do it to succeed

Ideas on How to Help Prevent Your Child From Cheating in School

As parents we know that children are tempted to cheat on their school work and tests at school.  We, however, want to be proactive and find ways to help our children make a better choice.  Listed below are some ideas that can help with this:

  • Build a great relationship between your child and you (if your child trusts you, he or she will be more likely to come to you for help)
  • Talk with your child to let him or her know that they can come talk to you if they need help or feel like they are struggling at school
  • Talk with your child daily to see how things are going
  • Check on their grades weekly to keep track on their progress (many schools have grades posted on the Internet and if you see that your child is struggling with a certain subject you can contact your child's teacher to see how you can help)
  • Keep in contact with your child's teacher(s) via email or phone
  • Observe whether your child is doing homework at night (if not, discuss it with your child in a calm manner and if you do not receive much information from your child, contact your child's teachers)
  • Help them with their homework as needed
  • Know where your child is performance level in regards to their education (i.e. my second grader can read well at a third grade level, but comprehends at second grade level)
  • When your child is struggling with a subject matter, contact your child's school to see if they have ideas or people to contact that can help (some schools have a homework help number, tutors after school, or learning resource center within the school district)

There are so many things that parents can do to be proactive in lessening the chances of their children to cheat at school.  We want our children to gain knowledge from a great education and they can not do that by cheating at school.  Our children need to learn that not everything comes easy at school and it's okay to make mistakes as well as to learn from them.  This is a wonderful life lesson for all children to learn.