Plagiarism

The articles "What is Plagiarism?" and "How to Avoid Plagiarism" discussed topics and methods that are actually quite familiar to me, and I'm sure to my fellow class mates as well. This is because the concepts of cheating, copying, and stealing have been ingrained in students by teachers and parents since a young age, as to avoid these issues from early on. While this is effective in preventing cheating among students, sometimes I worry that young students now perceive plagiarism as a "rule" they must follow rather than an ethical standard that should come naturally. Then again, it is difficult to force values upon people, so perhaps there is no other way to prevent plagiarism than strictly enforcing cheating rules with consequences.

My sophomore year in high school I witnessed a cheating incident with a friend, and it was gnarly. Parents, friends, friend's parents, teachers, principals, and teaching assistants were all involved in the nasty process of pinpointing the cheating to an individual and then punishing them. My friend was sort of criminalized for committing an act of plagiarism, and they suffered several consequences because of it. Seeing this happen to someone else further encouraged me to never cheat. At the same time, plagiarism is so pointless in my opinion. College is a place for expressing your own new ideas and thoughts, not for copying someone else's. And if you do use someone else's thoughts, it is important to give them credit! They probably spent a lot of time producing that idea or thought.