In response to Rebecca Moore Howard’s Understanding “Internet plagiarism” . . .
I think this author is right on target. Plagiarism is a major problem in schools, both in high school and college, and the computer makes it that much simpler for students to access and use. The abundance of material and simplicity of it all makes plagiarism extremely tempting to those who are on a tight schedule and under stress, or even for those who just don’t care and want to skim by without expending any effort. It’s a shame, but it’s true. Before the computer, students had to physically research for a paper by going to the library and searching through books. If you wanted to plagiarize, you would have to turn in a paper than had been written by an “accomplice” or else you would have to make the minimal effort of choosing from various books and simply rewriting what is among the pages. Today, the only tool you need is at the tip of your fingers (and in the back of your wallet!). I loved the example that Howard gave about a website that would “write” a paper about the evils of plagiarism. How hypocritical and ironic is that?! The worst part is how people are manipulating their “freedom of speech” so that they are able to post and make money off of things like this. Yes, it is a right that you are granted as an American citizen, but at the same time, it’s also a privilege, and a privilege is something that doesn’t have to be. Respect it! There’s nothing honorable or right about using cheating as a money-making scheme.
Howard mentioned that teachers are spending more time on using Plagiarism detecting services than on teaching the pedagogy dealing with the wrongs of plagiarism as preventative measures. That shouldn’t be. In my opinion, the PDS should serve as the supplementary material, used when suspicion is aroused but not on an everyday level. Students should be taught the difference between right and wrong in the first place so that when the time comes that they consider plagiarism, they will have already been instilled with the values that would prevent them from taking such action. My eleventh grade teacher did this. She had a class one year where one of the papers was plagiarized, but instead of immediately failing the person, she decided to give him a second chance. She announced to the class that one person had plagiarized, and if that person came to her by the end of the day about it, she would grant an opportunity to re-do the paper. Nearly every student in the class approached her that day, fearing they might have accidentally plagiarized. Students are conscious of the wrong involved, but it was the one student (who, by the way, did come and talk to her) who had deliberately done so and hadn’t considered the consequences. Personally, I believe that students ought to have a more rigid curriculum expressing the violations involved in plagiarism early on. The computer has made it so easy to trick teachers, and unfortunately, it’s something that a lot of those in the teaching profession will have to encounter during their careers. In my opinion, the best possible defense is a combination of education concerning plagiarism and teacher education of what they are up against and how to respond. The times are changing, and we’ve got to change our strategies to go along with it.
