Students no longer believe they can succeed without cheating - psychologist LUTH

A Consultant Clinical Psychologist at the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lagos, Dr. Charles Umeh, s talks to LARA ADEJORO on how to deal with counterfeiting in the country

Is there a psychological problem with forgery?

The forgery can be age forgery or certificate forgery and that is why the personality of the individual comes into play.

Some people are pathological liars, so they may have no qualms about lying, but those with a conscience always feel bad when they lie. So sometimes they lie and if it comes back to them, they feel it. People lie for different reasons, and we have different degrees of lying, but to me, a lie is a lie because it comes down to your integrity, your self-esteem, and your inability to acknowledge your actions.

There are times when people will struggle and they think lying is the answer, maybe they don't do it very often and that's when it becomes a psychological problem for them if they end up being found outside. If you're dealing with a pathological liar, lying is second nature, so you may not even know what is truth or a lie in their everyday conversation.

What could affect such situations are people's reactions. If there is general condemnation, the person can be traumatized, especially considering the age factor. For example, if everyone starts to condemn a younger person, they start to be overwhelmed, traumatized, and if we are not careful, some of them may not recover unless seek psychological intervention. Additionally, when events occur, how you handle them determines their impact on you.

In the case of Mmesoma Ejikeme, what might have influenced her decision to cheat since her initial result showed that she did well?

Students don't believe they can pass exams by working hard. Now that people are starting to recognize excellence, they always feel like it doesn't matter how they get it. Our society celebrates people who have succeeded without knowing how they did it.

When we were in college, we hardly saw people driving cars, but today students drive big cars, and nobody asks them what they are doing. When you ask some of the younger kids, they'll tell you that going to school is useless. Thus, cheating gradually settles in the psyche of young people, and they think that the only way to achieve excellence is to cheat.

According to Mmesoma's confession, she must have seen her result but that was not enough for her, she wanted to be celebrated for what she was not because that is what happens in the society. People are celebrated effortlessly, so the answer lies in societal values. This is not the only case, and everyone pays lip service to the larger issue.

Young people say they want to have money even if it's for a year. We need to start instilling values ​​in children from primary school. If you want to excel there is no shortcut, you have to work hard. Some schools and teachers are compromised, when you ask students they will tell you what they are doing. So it's a societal problem, and we have to start dealing with it. Go to the schools, and talk to the students, you will understand what is happening.

Could it be a spiritual problem or just a psychological one?

It's not spiritual, it's psychological. It is society that reinforces this behavior. A son from school will drive home a big car and some mothers will start dancing without asking what this son is doing. Others watch how the son is celebrated so they want to be like him.

Growing up, if you come home with property that doesn't belong to you, you won't enter the house because your parents will treat you mercilessly until you tell them to where you got it. When society reinforces bad behavior, others will learn from it. There is nothing spiritual in that, we are products of our society.

How can people involved in this kind of act get away with it?

The family is the simplest unit for behavior change. What is the value system of parents who run families? What do they teach their children? It's the only place you can start making meaningful change, so let's revisit family values.

Families need to stand up for what is genuine and respectable and make sure they address all bad behavior in their children. The children raised by these families are the ones who enter society. If every family does what they're supposed to do, they'll be sane. The media can start doing what we...