In Bangladesh, the government takes the “crime” of cheating seriously.  Children aged 15 and older can be jailed for cheating on their final examinations. Every year, the Bangladeshi government takes strong measures to stop potential cheaters, and carries out a massive media campaign to put students on notice, both via print and television.

It seems as though this is one of those laws where the seemingly less important crimes are met with an intense punishment in the hopes that the potential offender will be scared into obeying the law.

According to Wikipedia, cheating has its own part in the Indian Penal Code, which was subsequently adopted by Bangladesh. Thus, the issue has deep cultural roots.

What do you think of this law? Should the US adopt a similar law for students caught cheating?