Should You Tell on Someone Who Cheats?

You’re taking an important math test. You’ve studied hard all week. You’ve stayed up past your bedtime to review notes. Now it’s time to prove yourself.

You look over at your classmate Eddie, and you notice something. Eddie has his phone hidden under his desk. He’s looking up the answers online. Eddie is cheating!

Should you tell your teacher, Mr. Li, or keep quiet?

You’re taking an important math test. You’ve studied hard all week. You’ve stayed up past your bedtime to review notes. Now it’s time to prove yourself.

You look over at your classmate Eddie. And you notice something. Eddie has his phone hidden under his desk. He’s looking up the answers online. Eddie is cheating!

Should you tell your teacher, Mr. Li?  Or should you keep quiet?

Some would say you should alert Mr. Li. What Eddie is doing is completely unfair. What if Eddie ends up getting the same grade as you—or maybe even a better grade? For students who worked hard to do well on the test, it’s disheartening to know that someone who cheats might receive the same reward. In that case, why shouldn’t everyone cheat?

Plus, research shows that cheating is on the rise in schools. And technology like smartphones is making it easier than ever to cheat. It’s also making it harder for teachers to spot cheating. Mr. Li would likely want to know about Eddie so he can take steps to understand why Eddie wasn’t prepared for the test—and what he can do to help. That’s not something you can handle yourself. A grown-up needs to get involved.

Cheating is serious. If Eddie gets away with it, he might keep doing it—and suffer the consequences later in life. In college, students can be kicked out for cheating. Eddie needs to learn his lesson now.

If you don’t want to single Eddie out, you can always tell Mr. Li that cheating is happening but he might not be aware of it. That way, Mr. Li can be on the lookout next time.

Some people think you should tell Mr. Li. What Eddie is doing is unfair. What if Eddie ends up getting the same grade as you? What if he gets a better grade? Some students worked hard to do well on the test. It feels bad to know that someone who cheats might do as well as someone who didn’t. In that case, why shouldn’t everyone cheat?

Plus, research shows that cheating is on the rise in schools. And technology like smartphones makes it easier than ever to cheat. It also makes it harder for teachers to spot cheating. Mr. Li would likely want to know about Eddie. He might want to find out why Eddie wasn’t prepared for the test—and what he can do to help. That’s not something you can handle yourself. A grown-up needs to get involved.

Cheating is serious. If Eddie gets away with it, he might keep doing it. Later in life, that could affect him in bad ways. In college, students can be kicked out for cheating. Eddie needs to learn his lesson now.

If you don’t want to name Eddie, you can always tell Mr. Li that cheating is happening. After all, he might not be aware of it. That way, Mr. Li can be on the lookout next time.

Others may feel that you should not tell on Eddie. Sure, what he’s doing is unfair. But getting him in trouble won’t really affect anyone else’s grade in the class. You might decide that his cheating is not your business.

If you do alert Mr. Li and your friends find out, they might think you’ll tell on them too if they do something wrong. You might be called a tattletale or a snitch. And research shows that kids don’t really like tattletales. Telling Mr. Li might make it hard to make and keep friends. 

Plus, you don’t know why Eddie was cheating. Instead of telling Mr. Li, you could talk to Eddie. You might find that he had a reason for not being able to study for the test. Maybe he was busy with a family issue. That doesn’t make cheating OK, but it might make you think twice about reporting it.

Perhaps you could think of ways you could help Eddie instead of telling on him. Knowing that you noticed might make him less likely to cheat again. You could even start a study group, so next time, you can both ace the math test—no phones needed.

Other people feel that you should not tell on Eddie. Sure, what he’s doing is unfair. But getting him in trouble won’t affect anyone else’s grade in the class. You might decide that his cheating is not your business.

If you do tell Mr. Li and your friends find out, they might think you’ll tell on them too if they do something wrong. You might be called a tattletale or a snitch. And research shows that kids don’t really like tattletales. Telling Mr. Li might make it hard to make and keep friends.

Plus, you don’t know why Eddie was cheating. Instead of telling Mr. Li, you could talk to Eddie. You might find that he had a reason for not being able to study for the test. Maybe he was busy with a family issue. That doesn’t make cheating OK. But it might make you think twice about reporting it.

Perhaps you could think of ways you could help Eddie instead of telling on him. If he knows that you noticed, he might be less likely to cheat again. You could even start a study group.

So next time, you can both ace the math test—no phones needed. 

Dear Storyworks,

We had to do a BIG presentation in our science class. Amy got an A+, but afterward, she was bragging that her older brother prepared the presentation for her. I would let it go, but Ms. Lopez praised Amy in front of the whole class. And what if everyone else’s presentation got a lower grade because Amy’s was so spectacular? I don’t know what to do. Should I tell our teacher what happened?

Help!

Aditya

Dear Storyworks,

We had to do a BIG presentation in our science class. Amy got an A+. But afterward, she was bragging that her older brother prepared the presentation for her. I would let it go, but Ms. Lopez said good things about Amy in front of the whole class. And what if everyone else’s presentation got a lower grade because Amy’s was so great? I don’t know what to do. Should I tell our teacher what happened?

Help!

Aditya