The Big Q Blog

 

The two get off to a bad start academically. They are experiencing the freedom of living on their own for the first time. No parents are around to make sure they are keeping up with their homework assignments or readings. In fact, since Frank and Bobby are both in the same math class, they often take turns going to class. It starts off with the boys alternating going to class, but eventually turns into both boys often skipping.

 

One evening, midway through the semester, Frank and Bobby run into a classmate who informs them they have a midterm the next morning. They successfully get her class notes, however they soon realize they don’t have enough time to study unless they pull an all-nighter.

 

Bobby doesn’t believe he can stay up all night and still perform well on the test the next morning.  He decides that it’s in his best interest to create a cheat sheet and plug equations into his calculator. He

 

Frank is against cheating. He calls out Bobby, saying that this is unethical. Instead, he buys two Adderall pills from a student in their dorm who has ADD. He has heard that taking Adderall helps you stay awake and focus.

 

Bobby gets upset when he finds out Frank is taking Adderall to study. Bobby claims that there is no difference between taking a drug that isn’t prescribed to you to help you study and bringing in a cheat sheet. Bobby says they are both forms of cheating. Frank disagrees, claiming that at least he’s going through the process of studying for the midterm.

 

Do you believe it’s cheating to take an academic performance-enhancing drug that isn’t prescribed to you? If so, is it cheating to the same degree as blatantly bringing a cheat sheet to your midterm? Is relying on academic performance-enhancing drugs to study dangerous in long term?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo by Life Metal Health under a Creative Commons license.