Theme: Current issues in education
Pressure on Students Affects Academic Dishonesty
Within the current education circumstances, numerous youngsters encounter academic
pressures that lead them to pick shady methodologies to attain the expectations or the
standards of others who impact them. Academic pressures can be done by the individuals
who have a noteworthy impact on the student's mental state such as their guardians or peers.
Shockingly, these weights can result in amateurish understudy behaviors. Breaking the
scholarly rules could be committed by understudies to fulfill the desires of their cherished
ones. A few improper behaviors were conducted by some students because of academic
pressure, starting from cheating to plagiarization. Whereas, education is assumed to be the
method utilized to bolster learning, or the improvement of information, aptitudes, states of
mind, convictions, and propensities (UNESCO, 2018), academic pressure from companions
and family may diminish education esteem. Moreover, a few blemishes in our education
framework create pointless weight on understudies. It adversely impacts students and the
overall quality of education in Indonesia. Hence, this paper concurs that putting too much
weight on students makes them more susceptible to cheat since pushing under pressure
causes the corruption of students' mental and physical well-being.
One of the perspectives of the high level of academic pressure in Indonesia comes from its
education system, particularly The Merdeka Curriculum. The Merdeka Educational program
is a portion of the learning reclamation endeavors and assessment frame of the 2013
Curriculum. This educational program has been attempted by around 2,500 schools using a
project-based learning framework with the hope of progressing the quality of the education
system in Indonesia. Be that as it may, in actualizing this Merdeka Curriculum, it isn't
impeccably successful. The Merdeka Educational programs in each school still give as well
numerous projects and homework to their understudies. Schools must carry out projects to
fortify the Profile of Pancasila Understudies in the Merdeka curriculum. For elementary
school students, as much as 20% of the entire study load must be designated for extended
assignments. For the junior high school level, it increments to 25%, and again up to 30% for
senior high school. Whereas within the 2013 curriculum, there's no obligation to actualize it
(Writer??, 2022). Projects that are given to sharpen students' gifts and aptitudes should be
combined with other lessons so that they are not burdensome and to encourage students to be
imaginative. At that point, it got to be clear that examinations were still utilizing in schools
indeed in spite of the fact that there was already an extensive project presentation. Numerous
schools were still ill-equipped for executing the Merdeka curriculum as an entirety. It was
actualized too rapidly. Additionally, there's The Merdeka curriculum system where learning
topics can't be grasped by students easily. For instance, combining both social studies and
science majors will overwhelm students since the combined subject matter of both areas is
indeed more complex. Overhauling on global education rankings in 2023 Indonesia got a
final rating of 67 out of 203. (World Best 20, 2023).
Family and companions can also be pivotal partners in expanding the scholarly pressures for
students. Concerning the family viewpoint, the guardians are supposed to bolster their child's
choices though they undoubtedly want the finest things for them. Agreeing to a study
distributed in 2020, pressure from family individuals may result in the most hindering effect
on the mental well-being of youths. However, few parents defend their own opinions on their
children to succeed in academics, which in some cases leads to contention with their children.
The larger part of parents wants the most prominent score for their children so that they can
go to an extraordinary college one day and have a shining future ahead of them. At that point,
youngsters who are still dependent and still under the control of their parents are made to
follow those choices instead of seeking their interests. Since parents lack of awareness of
their children's personalities and qualities, the plausibility of high-stress levels and uneasiness
among students is expanded by circumstances. Due to these multiple issues, students, in the
long run, choose to cheat to live up to their parent's expectations. In any case, study findings
have shown that empowering sympathy and thoughtfulness among children improves their
academic execution, instead of pushing them (Adelphi Psych Pharmaceutical, 2018).
Additionally, the weight that young people these days encounter at school also comes from
peers. As we all know, it's common for students to construct distinctive companion bunches
at school. Tragically, there's a separation between "savvy" and "inept" students. For
illustration, if students select groups for assignments, they are going to crave brilliant fellow
students, not unintelligent ones for the purpose of keeping up their grades. This situation
causes students to be under pressure to become more acknowledged among their friends,
particularly by joining the "smart" kids. Moreover, because learners go through unchanging
circumstances, they're continually feeling anxious and fear coming up short.
All of the perspectives of academic pressures can result in negative behaviors, such as
cheating. It is broadly recognized that plenty of Indonesian students plagiarize their
homework. Students typically work by replicating answers from the web or inquiring for
answers from their companions. The causes are diverse as well; a few are related to a person's
need for confidence in their gifts, and others are caused by sluggishness or the constant fear
of faulting the educator for neglecting to complete the homework. Furthermore, in case
students cheat all the time on their schoolwork, they have to be compelled to another level,
which is to set out to cheat on the examination. Among the strategies that they utilize include
communicating with their companions subtly, utilizing gadgets covertly, and slipping little
notes into their pockets. In addition, according to the research conducted by The Unisba
(Nama lengkap/ tahun) in Bandung, 88.3% of students cheated, whereas only 11.7% did not.
Then, recently, amid the Covid-19 widespread, 86% of students completed their assignments
dishonestly and inappropriately by replicating and gluing answers from the web instead of
doing the assignments by utilizing their capabilities. The responses to the study also show
that 39.9% of students wanted to achieve good grades, 43.6% wanted to wrap up assignments
rapidly, and 7.2% of additional students reported that their teacher was unaware and never
punished cheaters. Clearly, from the taking after data, there's a reason why the majority of
students decided to cheat. As appeared by the information, a critical rate of students cheat on
their assignments. Cheating still fails students in the brief term, as well as in the long term.
Within the brief term, students appeared to be unscrupulous to both themselves and those
around them. As a result of feeling insecure, they lose confidence in their capacities as
individuals. Furthermore, when the students are caught, they will have to deal with the
teacher directly, who is going to punish them while at the same time making them ashamed
since their peers are aware of what they committed. And within the Long-term, students who
have developed familiarity with dishonesty will create distinct traits as adults. They develop
into someone who would rather skip the process and continue getting things completed right
away; for instance by stealing, slacking at work, etc. The more students cheat, the more futile
education gets to be. Since education looks for knowledge, not numbers.
Other negative impacts from academic pressures resulted in the degradation of students'
mental well-being. Students' stress levels rise when they are given too many assignments
right up until the exam. They will be left with a lot of homework and assignments to finish,
particularly if the project and the exam must be done at the same time. Most students seek to
know that their endeavors, including completing excellent projects can be beneficial.
Students believe they should get great scores based on their goals Due to the nonstop stress
on the students, it is easier for them to feel restlessness and anxiety. Students who are under
too much stress are also more likely to have low self-esteem since they lose their confidence
and are more perplexed about coming up short. Considering studying can be challenging and
the results tend to be unexpected, students are becoming increasingly on edge and end up
cheating. For instance, when under stress, young people may become easily irritated, angry,
unhappy, apprehensive, or regularly feel guilty. At that point, they acted improperly in order
to alleviate their stress, such as skipping lessons, lying to their parents, being irresponsible,
and cheating. The inability of students to control their feelings and behavior due to over-thetop stress is destructive so it eventually disturbs their wellbeing and impacts student activities
at school. Depression along with additional mental issues are more likely to develop in those
who have endured high levels of stress. Students are more likely to receive discipline, such as
getting blamed by their guardians or getting insults from companions when their academic
growth is hindered, including failing classes and lower grades. Due to their inability to live
up to their own as well as other people's expectations, the students ended up depressed
because of the disappointment. In high school, 45% of students claim to feel stressed out
essentially every day, whereas 61% of teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 demonstrate
tension over getting high scores. (Cross Waterway Treatment, 2023).
Last but not least, students' physical well-being can be jeopardized because of these
pressures. For instance, when individuals have sporadic eating and resting patterns, their
aptitudes in particular disciplines may diminish as a result of the stress-associated lack of
concentration. In addition to breaking concentration, they are also prone to experiencing
tiredness due to a lack of energy. Students' immunity will be decreased and making them
easily catch some diseases such as colds or the flu, migraines, trouble sleeping, muscle
tension, skin issues, and trouble with digestion are all side effects of a neuromuscular
disorder. In genuine circumstances, plenty of students are included in a lot of extracurricular
activities or extra classes, which keeps them even busier. Students' well-being is additionally
affected by their inability to manage their time, particularly when their overwhelming
schedule at school causes them to sleep and eat irregularly. Then, as a result, students ended
up depleted, making those who are weakened and physically susceptible frequently fainting
at ceremonies and enduring queasiness, dizziness, or stomach acid due to the excessive
symptoms of stress.
All in all, pressure on students can undoubtedly result in academic dishonesty and a lack of
mental and physical health. As was composed in this paper, family, educational system, and
societal factors increase the weight on students to attain perfect education results. However,
dishonesty in academics isn't the way to gain a good score. Instead, this blemish corrupts
students' self-esteem. Hence, it is vital for guardians and society to teach students to value the
process of study rather than the result. It’s also significant for the government to form a better
curriculum. So it can develop each student's talent and aptitude. Elin Nordergen said that
Education is one thing no one can take away from you. And keep in mind, just because it’s
hard, doesn't mean it’s impossible. We are able to be better students!
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