It seems that in today’s day and age, the only way to be at the top of your class is to spend more time planning to cheat on a test than actually sitting down to study. Is it fair for the students who strive to stay ahead of the competition to receive a lower grade than those using their phones to cheat? Is it fair for athletes who train rigorously to come in second to individuals who secretly use performance enhancing drugs to place ahead?
In earlier years of schooling, cheating is seen as juvenile. However, after getting used to the mild level of rigor offered from regular and honors classes, earning an A in an Advanced Placement (AP) course can seem impossible. The difficulty of classes vary, and in courses that feel especially challenging cheating might seem like a necessary last resort. However, for some students, competition between classmates justifies cheating. This concept also applies to major sporting events like the Olympics or the Tour de France. The argument about using performance-enhancing drugs grows more complicated as modern medicine advances. The phrase “If you aren’t cheating, you’re not trying” implies that when someone feels the acute pressure to be ahead of everyone else, whether academically or athletically, bending the rules and doing whatever it takes is a part of the process. In both classrooms and sports arenas, the pressure to succeed and do the best sets up a culture where winning matters more than integrity.
Academic dishonesty might seem straightforward, but as students struggle with increasingly difficult courses, some turn to advanced technology to stay ahead. Using tools like ChatGPT or other AI programs is an easy way to get homework done in just 10 minutes. Even though teachers use AI detectors and claim they can tell when students turn in AI-generated work, those systems are not perfect. Students often find loopholes in detectors and can often find undetectable ways to cheat, like using an AI humanized after writing an essay with artificial intelligence.
Competing with other classmates at the high school level now goes beyond grades and GPA. In today’s society, getting into a prestigious college requires being well rounded and doing a variety of extracurricular activities. Striving to be the most involved, students feel pressured to be in at least one sport, hold leadership positions in clubs, gain a ton of volunteer hours, and win reputable awards. With the amount of time that a student has to put into these activities, they might prioritize sleep over studying for a big test.. Therefore, some might reconcile to cheating instead of putting more hours into their long day to study.
Just like students feel the need to cheat to out-preform their classmates, athletes can resort to using methods to stay ahead of their competition. Performance-enhancing drugs fall under a broader group known as human-enhancement drugs. Generally, these substances are taken to improve physical or cognitive performance. It is still common for professional athletes to be suspended for violating banned-substance policies. On the Freakonomics Radio Show, Stephen J. Dubner discussed athletes, academics, rule-breakers and the new rule-makers, exploring what exactly constitutes cheating. One example is the professional cyclist Floyd Landis and his past with performance-enhancing drugs. Landis explained that his doctor told him early in his career that while these substances come with risks, his goal was to help Landis understand what he was getting into rather than simply pushing him to win with drugs.
To better understand what performance-enhancing drugs involve, it helps to look at common examples. EPO (Erythropoietin), increases red blood cell count, a major factor in endurance sports, as it boosts oxygen delivery to muscles during exercise. There are also anabolic steroids, testosterone, and human growth hormones that help athletes recover faster and build strength. Landis acknowledged that advancements in drug testing forced athletes to adapt to the new system, stating, “The way the tests had evolved in cycling, you couldn’t just use as much EPO as you wanted. So you would do blood transfusions.”
Just like cheating academically, many measures exist to limit and detect cheating in sports. In high school and college, the same motivations often apply. Students want good grades without doing the work, just as athletes want to win without training harder. Even some of the most intelligent students find it difficult to stay ahead of others who use AI tools or cheat successfully. Examples of these tools include humanizing AI-generated writing, using AI in small doses for simple worksheets or having AI summarize sources they never read.
While these shortcuts can save time, the long-term effects of overusing AI in classrooms can lead to dependency and a lack of critical thinking. It can also weaken advanced writing skills such as structuring sentences, vocabulary and organization. When students rely on ChatGPT to write essays, they do not effectively immerse their minds in the topic. A study titled “Brain Activity Is Lower for Writers Who Use AI” explored this issue, testing two groups of writers: one with unlimited access to AI and one without. Those who wrote with AI used less brainpower, contributed fewer original ideas and could recall less of their own writing. Evaluators also found that the AI-supported essays lacked individuality and creativity (Schwartz, 2025). In the long run, students who rely too heavily on AI dismiss their own writing abilities. Cheating on writing assignments offers little benefit later, especially in AP classes where AI is not allowed. Without practicing critical thinking and essay writing, students weaken their chances of passing AP tests and succeeding in college.
Just like using AI or cheating can have negative consequences on dependency in students, being caught cheating in professional sports can have a devastating impact on athletes’ careers. In many cases, athletes can lose their whole reputation after they are discovered. Similar to how Floyd Landis was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title for testosterone use, Ben Johnson’s1988 Olympic 100m gold medal was taken away after testing positive for stanozolol, using the drug to increase muscle protein synthesis to maximize his muscle mass. Athletes that use drugs to win events are typically caught due to whistle blowers, thorough testing and systematic investigations.
Although athletes cheating with the usage of drugs is common in the professional world, evading rules at the highest levels is difficult. If the Olympics allowed for anyone to walk in and use drugs, then it would not be considered an elite competition. If our society did not have regulations about driving and speed limits, cars would speed whenever they want to. This theory should be applied to regulations in school settings. Without proper guardrails to keep students from relying on cheating and AI usage, students will not fear getting caught. When administrators do not implement strict measures to dissuade kids from cheating, then students think they can always get away with using AI tools to score better grades than others who didn’t. If a student knows that their teacher isn’t going to look up at them in the back of the classroom, looking up answers on their phone, they are going to cheat. The more directives and rules in place against cheating, the more pressure students will feel to follow them. Being consistent with parameters within a classroom demands control over what the students believe they can get away with.
A foul in basketball is a foul no matter where the game is played. One hundred meters is one hundred meters no matter what track or swimming pool you compete in. Consistency is what makes it a sport. Humans want things to be clear-cut and fair. That is why competitors get so upset when someone cheats and still wins. Whether in the classroom or on the field, honesty should remain the real measure of success.
