A disease sweeps the nation. No, it's not a fever or a runny nose, but rather an illness of the body, it's an illness of the mind: academic cheating. There are several different forms of academic cheating; from a student simply glancing at the paper of his seatmate to absolute plagiarism. There are various reasons, including despair, ignorance and indolence. Cheating, in any form, is detrimental not only to the student, but also to the entire education system, the student's family and their future. Academic cheating is a pandemic in today's society, aided by today's increasing technology and it must be stopped. There are different forms of cheating; cheating in math class is extremely different from cheating in English class. A full four-page essay cannot be written on a student's arm, whereas a test can do so as multiple-choice answers. However, the equivalent of scribbling a list of letters on your arm is plagiarism. This can be done simply with only basic knowledge of the Internet. Plagiarism can range from stealing a person's basic idea to copying their entire paper and handing it over as their own. Some students even go into hiring someone to write their paper for them, paper writing companies are widespread, for ten dollars a page a student can hire someone to write a paper for them. place and the editors guarantee A's (Villarreal and Missal). ).Perhaps the most common reason for cheating is desperation; it's not just about a student's fear of failing her classes, but also of failing her family, losing face with her friends, and failing herself. Another common reason is ignorance, students don't consider it cheating, and they grew up with it being the norm...... middle of paper...... they have need to know if necessary and help them If they are not so worried about admitting their guilt that they continue on their perilous path, they feel more guilty than most realize and it is likely that the Most of them would come clean and do the work necessary to honestly return to their current level, if given a safe opportunity to do so. Eradicating academic cheating is an ambitious goal and it will most likely continue forever because there will always be dishonest and lazy people. But maybe America can help reduce these numbers in America's schools and colleges, maybe the next generation will understand the madness of academic cheating and use the new technology for the better. It's not just the fault of the teachers, parents or students, it's also the fault of all three not working together in unison and that's what America needs to change..