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As schools continue to find new ways to combat student cheating, researchers are finding that the habit develops in elementary school. 


"About 30% of elementary students report cheating when asked on anonymous surveys, according to a seminal 1999 research review that is still cited by researchers and administrators," 

wrote Sue Shellenbarger in the Wall Street Journal


By high school, more than half of students surveyed admit to cheating on tests and nearly three-fourths have copied homework answers from a fellow student.

, past chair and member of the International Center for Academic Integrity Advisory Council, said no one should be surprised by the growing cheating epidemic. She says 


"The best way to keep your child from joining in? Start now — in the elementary years before cheating becomes truly widespread. 'You want to get good behavioral habits established while moral reasoning is developing and deepening,' says Thomas Lickona, Ph.D., author of 'Raising Good Children and Character Matters — How to Help Our Children Develop Good Judgment, Integrity, and Other Essential Virtues.' 'There's research to suggest that even young children are more sophisticated and morally observant than we might give them credit for.'"(Parenting)


"Cheating needs to be addressed as part of a cultural problem. It is up to us to make it unacceptable not only in schools but also throughout society. Every time we accept it as unavoidable or tolerable, we help ensure that the culture of cheating is passed on to the next generation." (LA Times)

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Dan Ariely on why we lie

Do students understand what constitutes cheating in school?

Education News

Cheating isn't just a problem in high school and college. Researchers are finding dishonest habits begin in grade school.

Combating cheating in elementary school

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