Certainly there are times when students plagiarize unintentionally – maybe they forgot to cite a source or took poor notes, and the clever sentence found on a note card that they thought they composed in a moment of brilliance actually belonged to a source; perhaps they simply dropped the necessary quotation marks. Most instructors know that students will make mistakes and many instructors are forgiving.
However, there are few instructors that feel compassionate when it comes to cheating, and plagiarism is a form of cheating. Whether a student claims that an essay someone else wrote is her own, or she copies and pastes various different sources together to create an essay made in a Frankenstein fashion, plagiarism is frowned upon by instructors and schools for many reasons. Students, though, still might think plagiarizing is worth the risk. Here are reasons why students might want to decide against plagiarizing.
Plagiarizing Cheats the Student Out of a Valuable Learning Opportunity
Some students dismiss this reason as "lame," but it's true. In the instance of writing a paper for a composition class, the entire exercise is devoted to improving oneself as a writer. Plagiarizing takes away that opportunity.
Students might feel like a particular paper isn't worth the effort, as well. However, even if the actual exercise doesn't seem worth it, the student also needs to realize that he will be learning to manipulate various sources and ideas, as well as analyzing the materials he's learned in class and thinking about them critically. Choosing to plagiarize robs him of these opportunities.
Plagiarizing Just Once Can Give Students a Bad Reputation
Some students might hear the previous argument against plagiarizing and still not care. If the class they are taking is something they "had" to take (rather than something they wanted to take or a class that applies to their major), they might not care that they haven't learned anything by cheating.
Some students, though, will care about their reputation. In a classroom with a specific instructor, once a student has been caught cheating, she will be branded a cheater from then on out. What does that mean for the student? Extra scrutiny with assignments and general distrust, which can make for an uncomfortable learning environment. More than that, though, teachers talk to each other. A student with a reputation for cheating may soon be known as a cheater among the entire faculty. In other words, a student's reputation will follow her and it will be hard (if not impossible) to live down.
Plagiarizing Can Lead to a Failing Grade
Even with the previous two reasons, some students just won't care. Those students, however, won't like getting a poor grade in class. Chances are the student has chosen to plagiarize because he feels that he can't (or doesn't want to) write a paper for a class, and so, to ensure a better grade, he will plagiarize.
The problem, though, is that many schools have a no-nonsense policy when it comes to plagiarism. If a student is caught plagiarizing, she will receive a failing grade on the assignment. Many schools and instructors don't care why or how (and some instructors don't care if the plagiarism was unintentional): plagiarism constitutes a failing grade for the assignment and, in some instances, a failing grade for the entire class.
Plagiarism Can Get a Student Kicked Out of School
Some students don't even care about the occasional failing grade or failing class. Getting kicked out of school or a program they're enrolled in for failing, however, might cause some students to think twice.
Many colleges and universities tell students up front that plagiarism can lead to dismissal. Why put in all that effort, time, and money to jeopardize one's chance at success? It's just not worth it.
Write Original Material for Classes
Students who write original material gain an advantage over those who don't. Not only do they learn from their efforts (and can feel a sense of accomplishment for them), but they also maintain an honest reputation. More than that, though, they are more likely to get passing grades and stay in school.
There are too many reasons to avoid plagiarizing and not enough to take the risk. Students need only look to the future to realize that cheating really is a bad idea.
Cynthia Jones-Shoeman - Cynthia (“Cindy”) Jones-Shoeman earned her MA in English from Colorado State University in 2007; her thesis was "Toni ...
