Plagiarism :: Cheating Educational Education Essays

Plagiarism As people grow older, they become more and more responsible for their own actions. Once becoming an adult, eighteen in the eyes of the law, they are no longer able to â€Å"run back to their parents† for help. In the case of a teenager going to college, the issue of plagiarism becomes a more prevalent and important issue in their lives. Plagiarism is defined by Dictionary.com as a piece of writing that has been copied from someone else and is presented as being your own work and/or taking someone's words or ideas as if they were your own. Therefore, a teenager going to college must take full responsibility for their actions if they plagiarize. As children go through grade school, the issue of plagiarism isn’t even in the picture. All they are worry about is making sure they do their homework or read the book that is due the next day. Day in and day out plagiarism is allowed and children get in the habit of making it acceptable to copy someone else’s ideas or work for their own. It is not until they are older do they realize that what they were use to doing is illegal and completely wrong to do. They are then weaned off of their old habits and taught the correct ways to site someone else’s thoughts or ideas. This is often difficult for young adults to do, because they are forced to â€Å"break their old habits† and take on something completely different. Becoming an adult not only means more freedom but also means taking on more responsibility. For example, a person entering into college must now face heavier consequences for plagiarizing. In most cases, the school makes the person aware of what characterizes plagiarism and what the consequences are. Once that is explained and the person is well aware of the details, if they plagiarize they are often expelled and kicked out of their school. For example a friend of mine who went to Brown University was well aware of wait plagiarism entailed and the penalties for doing so. Since he was on the lacrosse team he had many opportunities to collaborate or share work with other teammates because they spent a lot of their time together.