A friend of mine taught a German course as a graduate assistant; there were four or five sections all using the same book but each GA was responsible for coming up with their own tests. Most of them just used the tests from the teacher’s manual, of which there were two to choose from. My friend mixed it up by using half of test A and half of test B for one unit.
Once the tests were in, one of the them demonstrated a remarkable pattern: the first half was 100% correct while the second half was 100% wrong, with none of the answers making the slightest bit of sense. It turned out that the test-taker had memorized the answers to test A (I’m not sure how many years lazy GAs had been using the same book) and didn’t notice the shift to test B questions.
The student was somewhat penitent, but then her father, a lawyer, caught wind of his daughter’s cheating problem and promptly contacted the department and threatened legal action should his child suffer any academic sanctions. In my book, it was the father’s ridiculous attempt to shield his daughter from any consequences of violating her pledge of academic honesty that signaled the fall of western civilization rather than the student’s ham-fisted effort to score an easy A.

I can’t speak for high school (since I graduated so many moons ago), but grad school wasn’t too long ago (graduated 2001), and I’d have to say that Dave’s statement that cheating “has become an almost accepted practice in most high schools and some universities” is wholly inaccurate in my experience. That’s not to say that fellow students weren’t so morally superior as to be above cheating, but that the stakes of getting caught were too high. But I just didn’t see or hear about cheating much at all, and certainly never experienced any attitude of acceptance of it.

“I just didn’t see or hear about cheating much at all”
Wow, this is incredible. I often had people trying to copy my work (homework or tests)from 5th grade on (either by asking or just doing it without my permission because I’d say no). I often saw people copying others’ work, especially homework. I often heard people who were required to do something and self-report turned in something saying that they did it. I rarely saw someone with a cheat sheet but that kind of cheating was usually more discreet.
This kind of cheating went on in various places.

I agree about the author’s belief that cheating is increasing in Schools. The world now, especially with the bad economy,will probably cause this to be worse as students are under more pressures than ever. As equally cruel ,is for someone that has made an achievement or advancement or completed a degree or a study, is accused of not being the author or achiever of the study or work, when the person is innocent. In our world today, we are swayed by someone’s personality, or who their friends are instead of what the person themselves has accomplished. Mary B.

Prepare for cynicism here:
And why shouldn’t cheating be, if not encouraged, at least not taken as seriously anymore? Cheating is now demonstrably a required life skill. If you wish to get ahead in life, cheating is very nearly a requirement. It would then be logical for schools to teach children to cheat smartly and judiciously.

No, not everyone has a few cheating stories. Honesty may be in the minority, but I think there are quite a few who haven’t cheated. A lot of people who have cheated in the past try to make themselves feel better by telling themselves that everybody has done it.
I also don’t support the premise that one blogger stated, “If you wish to get ahead in life, cheating is very nearly a requirement.”
Rather than concentrating on stories about cheaters, wouldn’t it be more beneficial to concentrate on stories of those who have been exemplarily honest?