Plagiarism - A Severe Threat to the Society Every day throughout the world, teachers strive to attain the most from their students in every aspect of life, from effective communication and language skills, to the development of individualism and the concept of being the best that you could be. With the use of exams, class discussions, and written assignments, educators subconsciously reinforce the idea that success can only be achieved from within, with personal expression and dedication to each and every task faced in modern existence. The world, as we see it today, has not evolved by people copying one another’s ideas. It has evolved from the willingness of individuals to step up and make their intentions known, to bring about new ideas and concepts to forever change the environment in which we live. All too often, though, due to stress, insufficient time allowance, or just plain laziness, people take the quickest and most unproblematic approach to getting work done, in turn, failing to play their part in society’s evolution by retaining individual ideas and viewpoints. For centuries, plagiarism has been a major stumbling block in the pathway for academic success. Plagiarism, as defined, means “to steal and pass off the ideas or words of another as one's own". It has existed in one form or another since the advent of time, with individuals copying the work of others to propel themselves forward in their own education or professional work field. The problem is magnified significantly in today’s society as we live in a high speed world where all of the information that you could possibly need is at the convenience of your fingertips. "Across the United States, universities -- and even in ... ... middle of paper ... ... were forced to deal with it. Evaluated more thoroughly, these statistics show not only a problem with student plagiarizing, but also an underlying problem of the failure to recognize it as a severe threat to the future development of today’s society. In order for society to continue to grow and prosper in technology, educators and employers alike must realize that plagiarism is indeed a genuine concern and as a result, must be dealt with in a more severe matter to encourage individualism. Often the threat of a failed grade or expulsion from a university is not enough to deter students from cheating if known instances have not been appropriately dealt with in the past. If the problem is to be mended, educators must make examples of students who plagiarize written material, so we can discontinue the trend that seems to be irresistible to today’s society.
Just as their father wanted, the girls kept their Dominican roots alive and never forgot where they came from. This novel, “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents”, is a coming of age novel, where four girls learn through experience how it is like to grow up in a tough time period. In America, the girls had the freedom to attempt almost whatever they wanted because they were free from the constricting rule of the patriarchy that ruled the Dominican Republic. All four were growing up but took separate paths during life to get to where they are as adults. Through the use of multiple narrators, Alvarez creates different perspectives throughout the story. The girls have come a long way from their mother’s color coding system when they were identity less to the women they are today. Each sister fought and conquered some sort of internal or external battle, helping them to overcome obstacles given by society that marked them as different. As adults, the sisters can keep their Dominican roots alive while living in the United States through
During the Holocaust, the Nazis carried out many unethical medical experiments on patients without regard for their survival. Prisoners were forced to be subjects in various studies against their will. The Nazis’ victims went through indescribable pain as they were forced through high-altitude, freezing, tuberculosis, sea water, sulfanilamide, poison, and transplant experiments. Through these tragic Holocaust experiments, scientists and doctors discovered treatments used today for high-altitude sickness, hypothermia, contagious diseases, dehydration, poisoning, and war wounds.
Fifty-seven years ago on an abandoned road in the Dominican Republic, three venerated sisters and their driver were murdered. Their death actuated the eradication of the vicious dictator, Rafael Trujillo. In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez illustrates this compelling story: the story of the Mirabal sisters. The author gives life to these women as a tribute to them and as an attempt to share their heroism and bravery with North American readers who were not familiar with the sisters’ impact. Critical reviews of Alvarez’s novel differ. Many critics praise the novel, some identify weaknesses in the work, and one critic categorizes the work as belonging to a new genre.
When I think of plagiarism, I imagine a person literally stealing from another individual. The term plagiarism is derived from the Latin word plagi rius, which essentially represents the felony of kidnapping. An individual who kidnaps anothers work is a felon. Obviously, this form of larceny is not as immoral as the form for which one can be imprisoned; however, most educators and honest students view plagiarism in this manner. Within education I conceive that there are two kinds of plagiarism: copying a paper word-for-word and not providing the correct recognition to the original author when utilizing their composition. I believe that each situation of plagiarism should be considered serious enough to investigate in order to determine an appropriate consequence. If an individual is not clear on how to cite works properly within the context of an essay, then the omission should be determined non-intentional and, therefore, not subject to punishment. However, if someone deliberately duplicates somebody elses work, then he or she should be reprimanded. This form of pilfering usually occurs in the higher levels of education, as in high school or college.
Without the proper use of digital technology, students are prone to commit plagiarism that can detrimental to their future. I say, there are many positives to the digital age and that if the conversation of plagiarism started
For many, many years schools have been trying to stop students from plagiarizing materials. Detecting this plagiarism used to be easy because students only had access to books in the library, magazines, and encyclopedias. However, as the popularity of the Internet increased, so did the number of essays and papers being plagiarized. Students can easily go onto the internet and in no time at all find and essay on their topic of choice. For a certain fee they can buy the essay and have it delivered right to their doorstep, just in time to hand it into their teacher. Some essays you don’t even have to pay for. You can simply print them off of the computer. This rise in the internet information highway makes it harder for teachers to detect plagiarism, and easier for students to get a not well deserved A on their paper; if they don’t get caught. Bellow I will discuss what plagiarism is, ways teachers can prevent plagiarism, ways teachers can detect plagiarism and how students can avoid plagiarism.
...anged a lot over the past ten years much less or the past 70 years, but there is no explanation to why they just kept “testing” it on so many other people and it may have been an experiment but it was a failed experiment but one good thing is that there is not one existing file on project (MK-ULTRA).
Gettleman, Marvin E.. The Middle East and Islamic world reader. Rev. and expanded ed. New York, NY: Grove Press, 2012. Print.
The rise in technology, societal image of perfection, and fear of improper work, are all factors that have led to the increase in cheating and plagiarism all over the United States. In the first place, technology has really changed the face of cheating. Kellie B. Gormly states, “ Plagiarizing is easier than ever for students, who can just copy something from a website, change the font and electronically paste it into their papers”. Dissertations, essays and term papers can be found on nearly one hundred and fifty different websites. All of which are available for kids to take and use, and turn in as their own. In like manner, the societal image of perfection in terms of school has made cheating a relevant problem. A conference Board
The study introduced education-centered methods to inform students about plagiarism, citation, and strengthening literacy skills. The rate of plagiarism in the study then dropped to 25 percent of the student (n=151). The author highlights the importance of not only education, but also creating a school culture of academic integrity and good reading and writing practices. The author concludes with her recommendations to provide both positive incentives such as education to help students who plagiarize unintentionally as well as negative reinforces for students who cheat intentionally to reduce plagiarism in higher education institutions (Ellery,
"Dare to Be Different! | Muslim Youth Musings." Muslim Youth Musings Dare to Be Different Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.
An infectious, virulent plague is ravaging the landscape of academia. It consumes young and old, male and female. The doctors won’t touch it for fear of ineffective results do to the rampant spread of “everyone has done it.” Plagiarism, as defined by the Austin Peay Woodard Library (2004), is “the act of using someone else's words, sentences, or ideas and passing them off as your own without giving credit by citing the original source.” While plagiarism isn’t actually a disease, its spread has been nothing short of pandemic. An infographic found at Schools.com lays out a telling revelation that over 75% of students admit to some form of plagiarism in their academic career. (Lynch, 2011) On the surface, it would appear that we may never find the cure to plagiarism, especially with the rise of universal access to information on the Internet. It is my position that this simply isn’t true; a prescription exists to eradicate the virus of plagiarism: 1) educate students early and often about the dangers of plagiarism; 2) identify and utilize a set of tools that aid the student in avoiding accidental plagiarism; and 3) encourage and reward students who strive for academic honesty.
Many issues affect today’s education system including poverty, technology advancements, budgeting, and a slew of many others. However, one of the most important and under-talked about issues is plagiarism. Along with it being illegal, the taboo subject of plagiarism is plaguing educational institutions, and has been for decades. We often fail to take a second and test the cause of problems such as this plagiarism. Is it because the institutions of higher education pressure students to pass by any means, including claiming another person’s work as our own? Better yet, is it the social stigma that students who don’t pass a class are identified and placed into a group by their instructors as well as their peers as dumb or stupid? That simply because
Plagiarism has been present in society for longer than one might like to think. But what is even more upsetting is the fact that it is a recurring problem in innumerable school systems across the country. By definition, plagiarism is the “unacknowledged and inappropriate use of ideas and wording of another writer” and can be considered “a grave violation of academic integrity” (http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/writing/tools/plagiarism.html). This may seem slightly harsh, but it is indeed true. However, to put in layman’s terms, an act of fraud or deception is committed when someone plagiarizes, either from a textbook or the internet. And, as with every mistake, consequences arise that affect the individual greatly.
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.