“Choosing Not to Cheat,” Friend, Jan. 2014, 9
Choosing Not to Cheat
My teacher asked to talk to me. Did I do something wrong?
When I was in second grade, I took some tests for language arts and math. I really wanted to do well. But I was also very, very nervous.
On the first day, the teacher handed out the test. She told us that we needed to keep our eyes on our own paper and not look at our neighbors’ answers.
It took two hours to take the test! I was glad when the first day was over.
The next day the teacher kept reminding us to keep our eyes on our own paper. I kept my head down and used my scratch paper to calculate the answers for the math test.
At break time the teacher asked me to talk to her in private. I was a little scared because I didn’t know why she wanted to talk to me. Then she told me that another student had been looking at my test and was copying my answers. The other student was cheating! The teacher asked me to be her special helper and use my scratch paper to cover my answer when I was done.
After the test was over, the teacher talked to my mom and told her what had happened. The teacher said that I was one of only a few second graders who did not cheat that day.
My mom was so proud of me for choosing the right. I know that cheating is not what Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ would want me to do. I felt so good knowing that I did not cheat and that my parents and Heavenly Father were proud of me.
I know that following the principles of the gospel, like not cheating, will lead me closer to my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.