Every day, thousands of students arrive at school to improve their knowledge and prepare for the future. Of those thousands, hundreds undergo a major test that day. Some students are well prepared for this major test, but others may not know they even took a test. This poses a difficult question: am I cheating? Even though students have the message “Don’t cheat” hammered into their brains since elementary school, they still don’t take it seriously. In my thirteen years of schooling, I have seen first-hand that many students rely on cheating to pass a course. I've also seen teachers let their students cheat by leaving information on the board or saying "As long as I don't see anything." This allows for poor study habits and being unprepared for college. Unfortunately, many students don't even think about whether or not they should cheat, the obvious answer for them is "yes"; while others think for minutes or even hours. But why do students cheat? There are many reasons. Many students may have simply forgotten, others were unprepared and some were in uniform. Likewise, the effects of cheating are passing, failing, or being expelled from school. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essaySeeing that "But I forgot" doesn't usually pass as an excuse for most teachers, students actually forget. However, the question should be how they forgot. Most students, especially these days, have so many gadgets and games that they get involved in that they forget everything about school as soon as they get off the bus or car. Many students head straight to the Xbox, television, Gameboy or cell phone and stay there all afternoon. Only to be reminded that at noon that night, early the next morning, or even walking into class the next day, they have a test. Then you have students who don't have time to play Xbox let alone study. For these students, a job could fill the time they could otherwise spend studying. Speaking to many of my friends who have jobs, the average working time is 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Leaving long nights to study, not spending time studying, or forgetting about an exam altogether. Whether employed or not, being able to manage your time is a crucial skill that will need to be learned to overcome the urge to cheat. Much like forgetting, many students are unprepared for an exam. Based on personal experience, if a teacher says, “These notes will be online,” it is highly likely that students will not take the time to write the notes, thinking they will go back and print them. Unfortunately, this leads to students not listening when the teacher rereads the notes and ultimately not retaining the information given. As I do, I will forget to print the notes and I will not be as prepared as I should be for the test, leading to thoughts of cheating or actually cheating. Many teachers offer tutoring sessions before an exam. However, hardly any students come to the sessions. This is the ideal time to ask questions about the material studied and fully understand what is on the test. As the saying goes: “I prefer prevention to cure”. This applies to taking advantage of everything the teacher offers. Whether it's tutoring sessions or extra credits,.”