November 08, 2016
Halle Thornton
Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), a character on the popular FOX TV series “House,” once said, “it’s a basic truth of the human condition that everybody lies. The only variable is about what.”
Sadly, this sentiment rings true for many people, including students at a university.
The average human is lied to 200 times a day, according to a 2002 study conducted by the University of Massachusetts.
These include little white lies such as: it’s not you it’s me, I think it’s for the best and we can still be friends.
College students say these simple lies frequently, but for what purpose? Just tell me the truth and let’s get on with it, don’t sugar coat your words because you’re afraid to hurt my feelings.
As a student, lying can be thought of as the easy way out of turning in an assignment on time or a way to get just one more day to study for that exam.
“Professor, I can’t make it to class today, I’m feeling under the weather,” is a lie used all too frequently on campus. A lie like this may take care of the present issue, but it ultimately has no long-term future.
Turning in a paper or some homework problems that aren’t yours isn’t benefitting you. It is only putting yourself at risk and rendering your education.
According to plagiarism. org, in a survey conducted from 2002 to 2005, 40 percent of 71,300 undergraduate students admitted to cheating on written assignments.
What do you learn from copy and pasting words onto a document that someone else already said?
Academic honesty is a choice made by every student. You are paying for your education, so do the work.
As an English major, much of my class time is based on group discussions of a book or piece of a text. I do all the reading, but someone else looks at SparkNotes for the analysis of the book and lies about what they think the major themes of the work are.
How is this beneficial to me or anyone else in the class? If I wanted SparkNotes’ opinion, I would have searched Google myself.
Lying can only get you so far. It is easier to tell the truth because a lie will follow you for the rest of your life. Lying is not an excuse to make someone feel better to momentarily ease pain, because the truth eventually comes out.
I still remember when I lied to my dad about brushing my teeth when I was five. Why do I still remember something that minor?
Because lying is a sign of insecurity. People who lie are too insecure with their decisions to tell the truth, and that is a shame.
The worst part is that a lot of people continue to do it because they haven’t faced any consequences.
Unfortunately, your mistakes are going to catch up with you. You aren’t learning the content. If you fail a class and wonder why, it’s because you never did the reading in the first place.
Catching the lie and just being honest with yourself and others will save everyone’s time, effort and worry.
Contrary to popular belief, the truth does set you free. Owning up to your mistakes, being honest even though it may hurt the person temporarily, is what you should do.
The truth is the truth, and a lie is just an excuse. Give it to me straight, or don’t give it to me at all.