Plagiarism: Why do we do it?
I was scrolling through twitter the other day and I saw a great quote from one Neil Degrasse Tyson. It read as follows:
“When students cheat on exams, it’s because our School Systems value grades more than Students value learning”.
This quote really got me thinking about cheating and plagiarism in general. Why do we plagiarise? What intense pressure must someone to be under that forces them to put someone else’s work forwards in the hope of doing better? I believe that it is caused entirely by our education systems.
Let’s start with an example close to home; Melbourne High School. Our motto is “More than just marks”. But is it really? As Mr Mahoney mentioned in his post, every year at least one VCE student gets failed because they put forward work that is not theirs at MHS alone. That is also not including the people that may slip through without being noticed. This level is ridiculously high, especially for one of the most prestigious schools in the state. This statistic shows to us the pressure that the VCE students here are put under to succeed. They are constantly told they are the best, and they are forced into thinking that they have to be better than everyone else. This can seriously damage their self esteem, along with giving them a dangerously unhealthy mindset. Even though the school motto is “More than just marks”, many students know that the unfortunate reality is this; either you swim, or you drown. This unrelenting pressure put on the backs of teenagers leads many down the deadly path of plagiarism. Under the weight of perfection, the reward of success begins to outweigh the risk of punishment, especially when the only thing stopping you from doing it is your own moral compass.
Whist I did use MHS as an example, don’t think for one second Melbourne High students are the only ones that suffer this great weight on their shoulders. From the time we enter high school, the biggest event on many of our horizons is our ATAR. What score will I get? What score do I want? What score do I need? These are questions that go through the heads of almost every student at some point in their schooling days, whether it be the first day of high school, or their first days of year 11, and for the most part it becomes the entire existence of most kids in their VCE years. Students in those years now have a lot more to deal with than the graduating classes of previous years. A generation ago, the only thing they had to worry about was doing well in school, and maybe a relationship or two. Now, students have to juggle grades, relationships, part time jobs, reputation, social media, and their entire futures, all because society has decided that the best time for you to become an adult is whilst you are still a teenager. Just the thought of this can lead many into the territory of plagiarism, just to relieve some of the burden that they are forced to carry every single day.
School can be tough. We understand that. But when it gets so heavy that kids are willing to cheat and lie to save themselves, we have to think, is doing well really worth it?
