Expressway: Students, pressure and cheating

The Great Neck North High School SAT cheating scandal has put a spotlight on the pressures faced by students to get into the best colleges.

It's well established that college graduates can earn substantially more in their lives than people with just high school diplomas. For many jobs, education beyond a bachelor's degree is required. So teens feel enormous pressure to attend the most prestigious universities.

In the first years of high school, students face the looming burden of college applications that not only determine where they will study for the next four years, but even which graduate school they might attend.

What used to be a carefree experience, at least as depicted in the movies, quickly turns into a stress breeding ground. High school is no longer just a time to meet friends, go to class and get a diploma. It's also a balancing act of cramming in as many advanced placement courses as possible while displaying leadership qualities as president of three clubs and captain of two teams and learning the value of a dollar at a part-time job.

When four hours of sleep still do not leave enough time to complete the biology homework from last night or to study for the history exam, cheating commences. Walk down the hallway of any high school and you're bound to see students leaning over each other's papers, copying homework answers before class. In any classroom, you'll see desperate students stealing glances at a neighbor's test papers.

A 2008 survey showed that 64 percent of U.S. high school students had cheated on a test, but that 93 percent said they were satisfied with their personal ethics and character. I believe the stress of school has broken down the morals of our society, replacing them with dreams of the success that comes with an Ivy League diploma.

Is this fall toward cheating irreversible? Is there anything that can be done to stop it?

I feel that any cheating I have witnessed is a result, ironically, of pressure from parents to succeed.

I am fortunate to live in a household free of pressure piled on by parents, where my best effort is all that will ever be expected. This allows me to work hard for my own satisfaction, rather than to please others. Though supported throughout my high school years, I have never been pushed beyond my abilities or expected to reach a bar set before me.

In contrast, I have seen friends break down in tears after an SAT in fear that they did not reach expectations set by overbearing parents, in fear that they may only get into NYU rather than Princeton. Where is the point where a child's happiness is more important than the university he or she will attend?

A fine line remains, separating morality and success. Is it worth tossing away morals for the chance to succeed? Is it worth turning away an opportunity in exchange for a pure character? Each day, students nationwide are confronted with the tempting offer to cross this line. Each day, more and more students concede, further contributing to the downward spiral.

It is time to learn that one's best is all that can be asked for, that increased pressure does not translate to increased success -- that there are things in life more important than admission to Harvard.

Reader Caitlin Donnelly is a senior at Sayville High School.