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Plagiarism As people grow older, they become more and more responsible for their own actions. Once becoming an adult, eighteen in the eyes of the law, they are no longer able to “run back to their parents” for help. In the case of a teenager going to college, the issue of plagiarism becomes a more prevalent and important issue in their lives. Plagiarism is defined by Dictionary.com as a piece of writing that has been copied from someone else and is presented as being your own work and/or taking someone's words or ideas as if they were your own. Therefore, a teenager going to college must take full responsibility for their actions if they plagiarize. As children go through grade school, the issue of plagiarism isn’t even in the picture. All they are worry about is making sure they do their homework or read the book that is due the next day. Day in and day out plagiarism is allowed and children get in the habit of making it acceptable to copy someone else’s ideas or work for their own. It is not until they are older do they realize that what they were use to doing is illegal and completely wrong to do. They are then weaned off of their old habits and taught the correct ways to site someone else’s thoughts or ideas. This is often difficult for young adults to do, because they are forced to “break their old habits” and take on something completely different. Becoming an adult not only means more freedom but also means taking on more responsibility. For example, a person entering into college must now face heavier consequences for plagiarizing. In most cases, the school makes the person aware of what characterizes plagiarism and what the consequences are. Once that is explained and the person is well aware of the details, if they plagiarize they are often expelled and kicked out of their school. For example a friend of mine who went to Brown University was well aware of wait plagiarism entailed and the penalties for doing so. Since he was on the lacrosse team he had many opportunities to collaborate or share work with other teammates because they spent a lot of their time together.
The better educated you are, the better off you are socially, and economically. Having a degree is, in general, a good indicator of your level of education. To get it some students study very hard. Others, on the contrary, prefer to take some shortcuts that seem to be easier for them. Those, not so much interested in acquiring a solid education, simply want to plagiarize to pass their classes, to get that degree. Plagiarism spreads out through any level of our education system. It even extends beyond that limit to reach almost any aspect of our society. With the internet revolution, this problem becomes more acute. “The web has provided global access to an unfathomable cornucopia of term papers, essays, and other scholarly works, right there out in the open for purchase or outright theft” (Simonson, Smaldino, & Zvacek, 2015, p. 160). This paper will discuss the different types of plagiarism. Before getting deeper into that discussion, we will start by explaining the word plagiarism.
Plagiarism is the copying of another individual’s writings and ideas. Plagiarism is an idea that has been constructed by society. It revolves around society’s ideas of intellectual and private property. It is considered to be a form of cheating. Often times in elementary schools and high schools, plagiarism is discussed as bad but is not actually prevented. Teachers often do not detect plagiarism and even when they do, sometimes it is ignored. The student is then rewarded with a good grade, ingraining within the student that it is acceptable to plagiarize. Plagiarism affects the ways an individual develops as a person and as a writer.
However, this defeats the whole purpose of school. If students are plagiarizing to get by, not only is there no creativity and originality, but it would not benefit them going on in the real world. It will not teach them how to use their brain to think critically on what they are doing. Depending on the severity of the plagiarism, consequences can vary. Some of these consequences could be getting kicked out of college, losing your position at a corporation or institution and possibly running into the risk of finding employment
The article Cybercheats clearly shows the cause/use of plagiarism. Students of all ethnic backgrounds use plagiarism. However it also shows how most schools are trying to crack down. Two employees from National Institutes of Health actually have a program that can decode essays that may have some sort of plagiarism. It is clearly obvious that the students who do indeed use this from of cheating have no real values. As Michael Miller, a teacher at Georgetown University, says, "It's really up to the individual reader to do with the information what they will, good or evil. I belong to a school that says teach people to do the right thing and then turn'em loose." It seems that if you are adult enough to actually attend collage then you are adult enough to handle the pressures and responsibilities that come along with it. For most cases the use of plagiarism is clearly used by students who don't know the value/capabilities of there own. They also aren't usually aware of the consequences.
Plagiarism takes various forms. A student may cheat doing something as extreme as purchasing a paper, hiring someone to write a paper or turning in a paper freely provided by a friend. Many students unknowingly commit Plagiarism by failing to properly cite their sources crediting the authors. Still others cite, but plagiarize by coping much too much and writing far, far too little of their own synthesized thoughts and ideas. Students must be careful about copying too much. If a paper is mostly other writers’ material, that can be considered Plagiarism, even if the student credits their sources.
The book, Other People’s Words: What Plagiarism Is and How to Avoid it, has taught me many things about plagiarism. Some of the things this book taught me are the definition and some ways to avoid plagiarism.
They can be doing homework and then they get the urge to just research the answers which can lead to plagiarism. "They’re not alone. In a cut-and-paste world, examples of both intentional and unintentional plagiarism are everywhere" (Source 3). Teens are indolent, so they just copy and paste information that they find online, onto their essays, or they attempt to rewrite the information they find in their own words. Plagiarising can lead to severe consequences with the authority.
...eople become greedy and jealous and will take something from someone. This is where the ethical standpoint of plagiarism is really seen. People today lack good morals and seem to go behind peoples’ backs and take what they want.
Have you ever known someone who plagiarized, either unknowingly or intentionally? Have you? It is very to plagiarize, today in a world of technology. Sadly enough, many people don't even know what it truly is, which can sometimes lead to plagiarizing without knowing it. There are many different ways to plagiarize, but all are wrong and unjust. Whether someone does it unintentionally or deliberately, plagiarism is wrong. Plagiarism should be corrected, fixed, and deleted before any damage is done.
When we have an idea or insight, rarely is it the first time it has ever occurred to an individual. Furthermore, what we learn through formal education, dialogue, and reading (for those who pay attention) becomes an integral part of our thought--we assimilate the ideas of others. Thus, what we may think and say is not necessarily of our own origin, but rather it is a conglomeration of the ideas of others in conjunction with our own native thoughts and understanding--such is human nature. However, there is a fundamental difference between this assimilation of idea and thought through socialization/education versus plagiarism. Plagiarism is defined, as the knowing act of stealing another's ideas and passing those ideas on as your own with the intent to deceive. It is theft of intellectual property which is owned and has value. Plagiarism is to steal and lie while assimilation is the process of educating the mind to gain knowledge from a vast variety of sources. Even though there is significant difference between the legal and moral dealings of plagiarism, there is overlap between the is and ought. Socrates and Confucius, we have read, would agree that assimilation is necessary for education and for being moral, but, as I will show, consider that plagiarism is immoral.
I think it’s a generation thing because our generation is very lazy, they don’t like to get up and do much, and we aren’t recognizing the importance of education. Secondly I believe that the quote “Students are surprisingly unclear about what constitutes plagiarism or cheating.” Is true because a lot of students do both. Plagiarism is the most obvious problem because students that are looking for information are lazy and they don’t make it their own paragraph or paper. The definition of Plagiarism is “ the act or instance of using or closely imitating the language of thoughts of another author without permission to use such information”.
Plagiarism is a very serious topic to be dealt with, due to the fact that it can damage one’s future very severely. It is done often by students in high school and other institutes such as universities and colleges. People plagiarize intentionally and sometimes even unintentionally. The people who plagiarize intentionally are people who don’t really care about their future and career. The people who plagiarize unintentionally are people who do not cite their work properly and completely. Most people that plagiarize do not get a good mark and most likely have to face consequences such as failure, suspension or the chance of being expelled. In conclusion it is believed that one should not put his/her future at risk and try to expand their mind through the process of critical thinking independently, so they do not have to make the mistake of plagiarizing.
Students that copy other student's work are hurting themselves in the long run. Their creativity level drops every time they copy or have someone else do their work. After a while of copying and forging, the student's ability to think creatively and successfully becomes next to nothing. "Educators must continue to socialize students of all ages about the importance of maintaining high ethical standards," (Glazer 222). The educational system is where students learn these tricks and proceed to carry them on into there professional careers. Corners are too easy to cut these days, and in order for people to keep their minds as functional as possible, they need to do their own work. It is too easy for students to buy a students paper that had the same class the quarter before, reword it a little, and turn it in as their own. Students are no longer able to write a fictional story by themselves because the computer or someone else can do it for them.
Plagiarism is a very serious subject to talk about. It doesn’t sound like it is that big of a deal but very serious things can come out of it. Students could lose scholarships and get kicked out of school for something as simple as copying someone else’s work. Students should learn the rules and regulations of the school ,that they are attending, about plagiarism.[1] That’s basically what plagiarism is; copying someone else’s work.
Plagiarism is a serious offense and a growing trend in our society today. Some may associate plagiarism with the idea of taking someone else’s writing and making it their own. In fact plagiarism involves anything that is copied or taken and said to be of your own work. Dictionary.com defines plagiarism as “the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work, as by not crediting the author”. In fact this definition covers all types of cheating and misrepresentation of ones own work. There are many numbers and statistics that can be found on the amount of individuals that have admitted to cheating. Perhaps the most astounding number is one that was reported by Moeck in 2002 aloft of 40% of higher education students commit academic dishonesty. This number I’m sure has grown since this report and will continue to grow with the development of the Internet. There are a number of ideas and strategies that can be employed in order to stop this ever-growing phenomenon. As teachers and adults, we are responsible for stopping this trend and educating students about the consequences and dangers of plagiarism. I believe there are a variety of reasons individuals plagiarize. First, students are insecure with their own ability; they don’t believe they can do the work therefore they take others. Second, students believe they can get away with the act because they know others who have plagiarized, and there were not any consequences. Lastly, students are uneducated on what plagiarism is and do not know the consequences of their actions if they commit an act. These ideas will be the focus of the position taken on plagiarism in today’s academic society.