A big test is scheduled today. Or students who, all of a sudden, decide to sit on their notebooks to improve the view of another's answer sheet. Ask any veteran teacher. The methods kids use to cheat are imaginative and resourceful. They're simply taking a shortcut to excellence, or trying to, anyway.
Kids know that cheating is dishonest, but other concerns are more important.
They want good grades. They want to please their parents. They want their teachers and friends to think they're smart. Ironically, it's often a quest for perfection and a desire to please that trap kids into a cycle of dishonesty and denial. Cheating is a lot more common than parents realize.