When I was eight years old, I was given an assignment to write a report about monkeys. For an eight year old in 1965, research consisted of pulling the M volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica from the living room bookshelf. I was so proud that I could reach this volume and began vigorously writing my paper. I copied all the information I could from the pages about monkeys and even cut out some photos of the Gibbons to spruce up my one page paper. My mother came into the kitchen and saw me sitting there with the scissors and Elmer’s Glue. To say that she “lost it” would be an understatement of the events that unfolded that evening. Eventually she cooled off only to be reignited a few weeks later when I received an F on my paper with the word
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I did not know that I needed to read the pages and then present the information through my own words. I was taught quickly what plagiarism meant and how to avoid it on future assignments. Since the dawn of the computer age, especially the Internet the mis-intent of plagiarism seems to have taken hold of students, which has turned into blatant intent. There also seems to be a lack of education from an early level on plagiarism in the digital age and how to cite all sources. The lack of early education regarding plagiarism, deems the necessity of a plagiarism class at the freshman level of college if not high school. The educational system is failing the youth by only giving instructions on how to format a paper and include a work cited page for an assignment. Educators need to take it a step further and have open discussions in the classroom in regards to integrity and honesty. Students need to understand that regardless if there is an author listed someone wrote that piece and the author needs to be acknowledged. Not only does the responsibility of the lessons fall upon the educators but also the parents. Integrity lessons begin at an early age. If there is not a positive role model in regards to morals, then the educators have a difficult road
I did not know that I needed to read the pages and then present the information through my own words. I was taught quickly what plagiarism meant and how to avoid it on future assignments. Since the dawn of the computer age, especially the Internet the mis-intent of plagiarism seems to have taken hold of students, which has turned into blatant intent. There also seems to be a lack of education from an early level on plagiarism in the digital age and how to cite all sources. The lack of early education regarding plagiarism, deems the necessity of a plagiarism class at the freshman level of college if not high school. The educational system is failing the youth by only giving instructions on how to format a paper and include a work cited page for an assignment. Educators need to take it a step further and have open discussions in the classroom in regards to integrity and honesty. Students need to understand that regardless if there is an author listed someone wrote that piece and the author needs to be acknowledged. Not only does the responsibility of the lessons fall upon the educators but also the parents. Integrity lessons begin at an early age. If there is not a positive role model in regards to morals, then the educators have a difficult road