Cheating was a big, classroom wide issue in my DD's class this late winter/spring. I was not "contacted" so she was not one of the problems, but it was pretty widespread.
The school has been high-ranking for years but has been very slowly slipping and they want to get back up there.
This is a big year for her grade taking assessments, and the introduction of core standards or whatever they're called. The whole school is one big stress machine. The cheating issue was the subject of many dinner conversations. At first DD had a shoulder-shrugging attitude when we talked about the seriousness of this, that we were proud of her for not following this path, and she made comments to the effect that it could be the way to go, easier, that sort of thing. Then she slowly came around when we talked about how it would hurt her in the long run and it was like lying (she hates it when people do that) and people not following rules (including teachers who are under pressure to cheat as well).
In today's ranking-oriented and competitive environment, there is alot of stress on kids even if we don't put it on them directly. That plus the natural perfectionism and other elements of a gifted kid can add to the mix. To me it's something to be continuously aware of and monitored, but doesn't mean there is anything wrong with a child at all. There are many temptations out there and character building takes a long time and requires guidance and attention.
