I have recently seen many busses and signs around campus promoting morals at the university. They frequently state something on the lines of “do the right thing,” or some other cliché promoting a code of conduct for the students.
The problem of academic dishonesty is quite significant at Texas Tech and it all stems from an incorrect perspective on life.
According to a recent study by Donald McCabe of Rutgers University, about 95 percent of high school students admit to cheating some time in their education. This is a very surprising number, but cheating is not limited to the teenage years. McCabe continues by stating 66 percent of all college students admit to cheating.
Deep down, everyone knows cheating is wrong. For this reason, we called it “cheating” instead of “being resourceful” or “thinking out of the box.” Cheating is disobeying the accepted rules of conduct, which everyone knows but apparently few still follow.
So if everyone agrees cheating is wrong, what has caused 66 percent of college students to admit to having cheated?
The reason is simple: We have placed too much value in circumstance. Those who cheat do so to get to the next level as if they were one of the Super Mario Brothers. The rationale for students to cheat is simply to get that good grade and get on to the next stage in life.
The lie under all of these bad behaviors is that somehow, the cheating student will be happier if he or she does better in school, gets that better grade and eventually gets that better job.
The problem with this rationale is simply that happiness does not come from external sources. Happiness is distinct from pleasure or luck, even though many languages connect those concepts. Happiness, like all good and desirable attributes in life, is not to be gained in a vacuum. It does not simply happen to us.
The Welsh language, in this instance, offers more insight into this concept than English. Happiness, in Welsh, originated from the word for “wisdom” (See the online etymological dictionary). To be happy, the Welsh language would suggest, one must be wise and follow those courses of action which will produce happiness.
Happiness operates on natural laws, just like everything else. For example, if one is a drug dealer, obviously he or she will not be following the way of happiness and therefore will not reap it. He or she may feel pleasure or stimulation from his or her actions, but lasting satisfaction and content will be lacking.
The idea happiness and contentment stem from circumstance has widely influenced life.
Not only does it give rise to cheating, but also it gives birth to the feeling of entitlement. Some think because they are human, they deserve happiness to be given to them, and they demand from others and the government those things which will “make” them happy.
This often prevents them from happiness instead of promoting it, because often happiness comes from providing for oneself and ones’ family. I think it is important to note that the Constitution does not promise happiness. It only promises citizens the opportunity to pursue it.
Also, if happiness is perceived to derive from mere circumstance, then the accumulation of goods becomes first priority in life. This often excuses the breadwinner to work long hours and neglect his family, perhaps unselfishly saying he or she is working to provide the family with the “good things in life.” Being absent from those who love you is not a good thing in life.
This attitude produces workaholics and, sadly enough, excessive debt. The world would teach that if a yacht is the only thing that will bring happiness, then one should ignore the family and instead work to earn enough money to pay for that yacht. If one cannot afford it, charge it now and pay the difference later.
What is the solution? We must focus on contentment on those good things in life which are often free: family, friends, love and the development of character. Happiness is not limited to the rich or the poor, the healthy or the sick (what does this mean for Obamacare?). No, happiness is free to all that will have it.
Helen Keller, who would certainly know what one can and cannot develop from within, stated, “Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within. It is not what we see and touch and that which others do for us which makes us happy; it is that which we think and feel and do, first for the other fellow and then for ourselves.”
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