By Marian Merritt | September 1, 2007
Summary: Homework just isn’t what it used to be. Before the Internet, kids would have to dig deep into a library, reach high on a shelf for reference books, and meticulously mine through piles of pages, papers, and articles in order to get a good grasp of a topic. Today, hundreds — if not thousands — of written items can be brought to any student’s desktop in seconds with a quick and single search click. But, do kids know that copying and pasting text — and claiming it as one’s own words — is both wrong and illegal?
Search and you will find…
It’s easy to see for yourself how much information on the Web is available on virtually any subject that your child might be studying about. To illustrate this, I have a simple test for you to take: Go to your favorite search engine and perform a search on “Of Mice and Men”, “Moby Dick”, or any other classic tome that was part of your required reading material in high school or college. Not only are there hundreds of sites to choose from, but most of them provide detailed character lists, chapter-by-chapter summaries, plot overviews, thematic and dramatic analysis, a plethora of literary opinion, and more. Some sites even have full essays, and present the original grade that the writing received for the original author!
Of course, when I was in school, I had the venerable Cliff Notes® to help me study. But today, with the power of the Web, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of ways for students to take someone else’s words and use them as their own.
Is it plagiarism?
Any time you take someone’s words and use them — without proper credit or quotes — it is considered a form of plagiarism. Even while writing this very article, I was struck with the nuances inherent in doing research and extrapolating what I found into original word and thought.
According to Plagiarism.org, an informative site for students, writers, and researchers, “all forms of expression fall under copyright protection as long as they are recorded in some way (such as a book or a computer file).” Thus, all of the following actions would be considered plagiarism:
- Turning in someone else’s work as your own;
- Copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit;
- Failing to put a quotation in quotation marks;
- Providing incorrect information about the source of a quotation;
- Copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of a work, whether you give credit or not.
Many experts say that most cases of plagiarism can be avoided simply by citing the origin of a paragraph and acknowledging that certain material has been gleaned from a particular source. Terms like “copying” and “borrowing” can disguise the seriousness of the offense. In fact, most high schools and colleges today have very stringent and specific guidelines about proper credit of quotes, ideas, and words that are used from other sources. A good portion of a student’s final grade is based not just on good research, but on the required format used in papers to specify those sources. The “APA Style Guide to Electronic References” and the “MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers” are two of the more popular required guidelines used by many colleges and universities. Students and parents should have a copy of these guidelines so that every assignment adheres to the rules of appropriate credit for unoriginal content.
Homework for sale
Not knowing the specific guidelines is essentially an “accidental” form of plagiarism that each student — with the help of their parents — needs to fully understand. But it’s no accident when a student willfully checks out the Internet with the intent to buy an assignment. With today’s technology, it’s never been easier to find thousands of essays, term papers, book reports, biographies and articles for sale. And there’s plenty out there. These papers span every category and subject matter imaginable. Every student needs to know that the vast majority of these purchased papers that are sold online are plagiarized, and that colleges and universities take prompt and serious action against plagiarized assignments.
“It’s usually so obvious,” says high school teacher Joelle Keene. “Suddenly, in the middle of an essay I see these 8 syllable words! Do they really think I won’t notice? Of course, I’ll “Google” the phrase and it always comes right up.”
Cheat detection software and online sites are readily available (check out articlechecker.com as a perfect example), and you can bet every teacher or professor have their favorites. If a paper is suspected of having plagiarized text, the instructor just types in a phrase to search for other documents on the Internet in which that phrase may appear. More comprehensive plagiarism prevention software is also available, letting instructors scan papers even faster.
Crime and Punishment
Not only should our kids understand the expectations about following the right cyber ethics, as well as the law, when it comes to their writing assignments, but they should also be told what the consequences are if they are caught cheating. A college student named Arlene (not her real name) is a close family friend who just received her degree from a major university in Michigan. When Arlene was in high school, she was accused of cheating on a test. She disputed the charge to the school board, claiming that she had misunderstood the use of certain resources during an “open book” test, and that she did not actually intend to cheat.
Despite her best efforts to appeal, Arlene now has the cheating accusation emblazoned on her permanent record. This is something that she has had to deal with throughout her academic career. She said that it’s as bad as having an embarrassing video up on YouTube.
Finding what you don’t want
For youngsters doing Internet searches for homework assignments, the Internet serves as an uncensored source of information that is not designed specifically for children. Surfing the Web without adult supervision or a filtering program can expose a child to a wide range of harmful sites. With a resource as vast and uncontrolled as the Internet, your child can find just about any information that he or she may want — or not want.
Make sure you have parental controls on your computer. A free download of parental control software is available to anyone who has a valid subscription with Norton Internet Security (2007 or later version) or Norton 360. This Norton Add-on Pack includes parental controls that block access to unsuitable Web sites and provides alerts to help prevent your child from sending out personal and confidential information via email, instant messaging or Web pages. For more information, go to: http://www.symantec.com/norton/products/overview.jsp?pcid=is&pvid=naop1
Upgrade your child’s study habits
No matter what age your child may be, he or she needs to know that when it comes to their homework, they can’t cut corners. I tell my kids that homework can be fun, interesting, and challenging, but they just can’t copy and paste words and think they’ve completed their assignment.
You should talk to your children about cheating, plagiarism and the role technology has in making it so easy that they might not even realize they are doing it. For example, if your child is Instant Messaging while doing their homework, are they getting the answers from a friend?
Joelle, the high school teacher, tells her students to take steps to avoid plagiarizing others’ work: “When you read something, you feel as if what you have read is what you know, so if you lift it and put it into your paper you feel like you are honestly putting down what you yourself have learned. But if you really want to learn it, you have to filter it through your brain and then put it out onto the paper in your own words. So when you read something on the Internet, learn to take a break, step away or close the computer and then write the thought down in your own words. If you’re not sure you got it right, or if you need to refer back to the website for a detail, go back and check, but then step away again and try again until it’s right in your own words. Then, not only will you not have plagiarized it, but you will have really learned it!.”
Parents also need to be aware of other cheat methods. The cell phone, digital camera, IM, email, Web pages and social networking sites can all be used to make cheating easier and more common. It’s also a good idea to show your child stories in the press about adults who are caught cheating and the resulting damage to careers and reputations.
Let’s make the 07/08 school year one that we can all remember happily. Teach your kids about the importance of ethical online behavior, including the need to avoid homework cheating and plagiarism.
http://www.symantec.com/norton/familyresources/resources.jsp?title=column_plagiarism-and-homework
