Plagiarism

Before we start on this journey of fun-filled sarcasm and rhetorical questions, if you’re unfamiliar with what plagiarism is, or think you do but aren’t sure what it actually means, click here, and find out a little bit more. So, now that we know what we are dealing with here, let’s discuss, well, let me enforce my opinion which you may or may not agree with.

So, I myself believe that plagiarism is wrong, but I think it’s understandable when a student does so. I believe that the reason behind plagiarism is when a student or just someone trying to create their own work feels pressured to do well or get good grades. I believe this could happen in three different ways. Either the student themselves cares more about grades then actual learning, they’re pressured to do well by their parents, or their school teachers act as if they don’t care about teaching. I believe that any one of these points could potentially lead to a student to plagiarize.

Now, I hear you asking, “Then how can this be stopped? I don’t want my kid to be cheating”, well, to be completely honest, I don’t know. How well a student does in school might tie in with their sense of self-worth, which as a growing teen myself, is a very important aspect of life. Maybe students feel as if, if they aren’t smart enough, they won’t be important. Who knows.

The one and only way that I can think of for making sure students don’t plagiarize, is too teach them the importance of learning, that it doesn’t matter what marks you get or what’s on your report card. That school isn’t the endgame and that there’s more to life then just marks. If we can teach this to children at a young age, I believe, that maybe, just maybe, we could stop plagiarism.