While students are tight on time and packed, they are forced to find alternative ways to pass classes. The unfortunate solution is plagiarism. According to a survey done by The Joseph Institute Center for Youth Ethics, 59% of high school students admitted to cheating on a test and 34% reported to cheating more than two times.
Students are able to get away with cheating for a variety of reasons, from absent-minded teachers to clever tactics. Cheating is different from using electronic resources for additional help, which some students understand.
Sophomore Salma Tayel said that she has never plagiarized by taking something word for word but has used online sources to help her come up with ideas on how to start an assignment.
Other students, however, do not cite their sources and copy and paraphrase online and peer sources. Some are willing to use all materials available to them to facilitate their academic dishonesty in order to pass.
Tayel admitted she knows people who have cheated.
“I’ve heard of students putting a piece of paper in their calculator with notes written on, using their phones, and mostly writing on their hands” she said.
One of the most common reasons for plagiarism is because students feel overwhelmed or find it difficult to balance their academic demands and social life. Unfortunately, some students also plagiarize because they’re too lazy to do work on their own.
An anonymous student admitted to plagiarizing, saying “I’ve used the help of Sparknotes on my previous English essay because I was struggling.”
Many other people interviewed also admitted to using Sparknotes- a common online resource tool that provides study guides and discussion forums on various subjects and books.
When asked how many students plagiarize, AP Language and Composition teacher Mr. William Manion, who is also the head of the English department, said “I would say a fair amount of students. I have students turn in their essays on Turnitin.com which helps detect plagiarism quickly. Every student has their own writing style and its pretty obvious when a student has plagiarized sometimes.”
Many teachers said that plagiarism is increasing because of the ease of simply copying work from the Internet onto a paper.
Dr Thomas Mast, an English teacher at ERHS for almost 10 years, said that different formats for assignments can help to prevent this.
Dr. Mast cited in-class writing assignments as “one avenue to prevent plagiarism.” He continued, “I wish we could change the mindset of students and allow them to realize plagiarism is wrong.”
For students, it is important to understand what plagiarism is and how to avoid it because there are severe consequences to academic dishonesty.
Sarah Tayel, a junior and sister of Salma Tayel proudly says “I’ve never… taken anything word for word”.
Sarah continues to give advice to other students saying “If you do not understand an assignment, it is important to talk to your teacher about it or to try harder”.
