One day in third grade changed my whole perspective on cheating in school. The subject was math in Ashley Community Schools’ third grade, my class had a test and I was feeling comfortable because I knew the material. Right next to me was my classmate Stephanie, we were made to sit next to each other by the teacher Mrs. Harmon. On the day of the test I thought I was going to ace it. During the test I had it all figured out, it was simpler than I thought it was going to be. After math class was over it was first recess. When we got back from recess Mrs. Harmon called me and Stephanie to her desk. Both me and her did not have a clue what it was about. She started off by giving us both our tests back, I got 100%. So did Stephanie. After Mrs. Harmon handed us back our papers she asked us, ‘’ Did you cheat?’’ I looked at Stephanie, and then back at Mrs. Harmon and said, ‘’ I didn’t cheat.’’ I must have looked as pale as a ghost because Mrs. Harmon looked at me a little funny. She turned to Stephanie who ironically looked even paler than me. Stephanie looked confused and said, ‘’ I didn’t cheat either.’’ Mrs. Harmon was getting frustrated at this point. I don’t think she had faith in us to get a good grade on this test. She said, ‘’ If neither of you are going to confess then I will have to punish both of you. You two will eat lunch in here with me.’’ I was glad that there was recess after that class. All the guys were asking me if I cheated or not. I answered, ‘’ If I wanted to cheat I wouldn’t do it off from her.’’ They agreed but the girls of our class were on the side of Stephanie. It was basically boys vs. girls. The next class was social studies, I still sat next to Stephanie, she still looked pale. After social studies was lunch. Mrs. Harmon looked like she was going to yell at us because her face was fiery red. After we were done eating she called Stephanie and me out in the hallway one by one. I don’t know what Mrs. Harmon said to Stephanie but her voice was raised. After she was done talking to Stephanie she called me into the hallway. First she asked, ‘’ Did you understand the test completely?’’ I answered, ‘’ Yes that is how I got my 100%.’’ She said, ‘’You can go outside for after lunch recess.’’ I replied, ‘’ Thank you.’’ I figured Stephanie must have confessed. When I got outside everybody was surprised I was out there thinking nobody would confess.
After I got outside for five minutes Stephanie came out. I was surprised because I thought she confessed. I went up to her and asked, ‘’ Did you confess?’’ She replied, ‘’No I thought you confessed and were in the principal’s office.’’ I was confused, maybe Mrs. Harmon tricked us or maybe not, I don’t know. Once we made it in the class Mrs. Harmon brought Stephanie and me to her desk. She said, ‘’ It has come to my attention that one of you did cheat. One of your classmates told me that they saw one of you looking onto the others paper. Stephanie you will be eating lunch with me for the next five days. Hunter you can go back to your seat I need to talk to Stephanie.’’ I went back to my seat relieved that I didn’t get blamed for what I didn’t do. The next day for me school went back to normal. I was wondering who told Mrs. Harmon that Stephanie cheated. It should have been easy to figure out who did because there was only twenty of us in our class. I never found out who told Mrs. Harmon.
So justice affected my life early on, especially in school. I found out you will get punished for bad actions. The punishment could be as small as missing recess or as brutal as in later in life as going to jail for the rest of your life. So I recommend not cheating in school or even at all in life, because you don’t know what the consequences will be.