Let the cheater get away with it?? If he is brazen enough to read out loud someone else's work and take credit for it, he may well have violated some other norm of constructive
behavior..This one event may well be an indication of a deeper character flaw which needs confrontation, not just for the cheater's sake, but for society's sake..so that he does not progress to greater anti social behavior. This behavior needs to be confronted. If the parent is loath to do so personally, at least an anonymous letter with a copy of the original should be sent with a note to the teacher and principal of the school.
29
Here's another perspective from a casualty of a different cheating experience. I was a college freshman in the late '60's. My roommate told me that she observed a history classmate cheat on a test & she wanted to turn her in, but was afraid that she would be found out. She had written a note to the Resident Advisor who lived next door & wanted me to slide it under the door. I refused, saying that I didn't see the cheater& did not want to get involved. The pressure became intense, so one night at 3 a.m., I finally agreed. Relieved that I would have peace & that justice would take its course, I resumed my life. My roommate had mentioned the offender's name, but I forgot it. To my horror, I discovered the following year that she was one of my suitemates! She made no attempt to be friendly & turned the other 2 girls against me as well. Finally, one day mid-semester, I asked her why she was so hostile to me & she informed me that she was the accused in the note. Both her sisters had been outstanding students & her parents had been forced to hire an attorney to defend her to keep her in school. I apologized profusely & explained what had happened with my former roommate. Apology not accepted & that was one very long unpleasant year. Word also got around what I had done, so I became a pariah to many. My roommate - well, out senior year she was elected Student Body President besides having served as an officer in her sorority & in many other social organizations.
18
This isn't simply "cheating" this is stealing. Art is a specific invention. Whether or not the poem appropriated was "brilliant" or simply interesting, the fact is that a student called someone else's creative work their own. If the student were riding another's bicycle and said it was theirs, but someone knew differently, would you call it "cheating"? No. It is stealing.
22
Regarding the first issue, permit me some plagiarism: "Much Ado About Nothing".
4
Teachers, students and student peers should all be involved in a drafting process in the classroom so they can all see a writing piece evolve. This cuts down on any cheating and helps students own and take pride in their work.
19
school has been an effective training ground for the arts high school cheater: he has learned to move himself ahead, and to stand out, without doing the actual work involved or demonstrating any talent of his own, except for self-promotion. if he couples these learned skills with valued native abilities such as being tall or good-looking, or perhaps having a nice or at least commanding voice, I predict he will go far. top talent agent, bigshot lawyer, or even president are all within his reach if he keeps up the good work.
18
Regarding the cheater. There are so many variables to consider, the fall out for all people involved, so its a dilemma. However, as a parent you have a responsibility to teach your children about integrity, consequences of cheating and lying, and help them develop the skills they will need as an adult. Would you as the adult in a work place environment allow this kind of thing to happen? Sadly the answer seems to be yes so often. Best of luck.
5
The parent's reasoning in question 1 seems overly complicated. As my kids tell me, "snitches get stitches."
1
Regarding the cheater - I don’t understand the difficulty with this situation. Someone is cheating and you have proof. Alert the teacher and possibly the principal and leave it with them to work out the punishment. No need to get the whole gang of students involved, no need to publicly announce that you’re going to report the cheating. I personally wouldn’t have even confronted the cheater - it’s admirable, but not necessary. The school should have channels to deal with this type of issue.
24
I ran scenario 1 by my teen daughter (an honors student) who said “omg, why does she care what someone else is doing?” She also said, “in the end, a cheater only hurts themself.” And she finished with “this girl and her mom are only trying to make themselves look better.”
12
Re: Plagiarized Poem.
I agree with letting the instructor know that the individual's work was not original and asking for anonymity. While they are for now in high school, if the offending individual has any plans for college they will not earn top grades for plagiarism - especially if their chosen college requires a certain grade level to be maintained in order to remain a student there. The sooner this is addressed and they are held accountable the better. If they want a good grade for the work, they need to start citing their sources, something that is required for college papers
Re: Contract Violation
Is the Nanny who's contract is being violated working through the same agency as the author's. Again, this issue needs to be addressed to the placement agency representative so they can take legal action against the offending family. Because the author heard of it secondhand it would be treated as hearsay and not valid. They could instead support their nanny to make the report since they (assuming) were told by the victim. No longer associating with the offending party only makes things look suspicious and possibly create a more hazardous work environment for the victim.
3
The nanny may be eligible for T nonimmigrant status, also known as a T visa, which is a form of humanitarian immigration relief available to victims of labor or sex trafficking. She needs to consult with an attorney, ideally one at a domestic workers organization, anti-trafficking organization, or domestic violence organization (many of which also have expertise in trafficking issues). The US government defines labor trafficking as recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining a person for labor or services through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery. If there was a particular contract in place prior to the nanny arriving in the US and the diplomatic employers are not abiding by it, it likely meets the fraud prong. Please, please figure out a way for the nanny to consult with a lawyer with expertise in T nonimmigrant status.
37
There's a movement in education to do away with homework. Many teachers support it, not for some lofty pedagogical reason, but to negate cheating. I do not wish to blame the teacher here, but many of us have student do much if not most of their written work in class so that we have a baseline with which to compare homework. In my case it's software, but just a a good English teacher can recognize writing style, I can recognize coding style. But still, this is not the teacher's fault, but the student's and in many cases the parents too.
6
About the nanny situation: why not send the couple an anonymous message reminding them how to lawfully abide by the A3 laws? If there is no legal recourse, perhaps social shame triggered by the fear that their neighbors might be watching and judging them could help.
11
if the foreign nanny's employers are foreign diplomats posted to the US, and have brought with them domestic help, I'd bet they are more likely to follow the laws and mores of their home country than what's done here; they may have immunity, they may feel their home and servants are legally foreign soil, and they may think they've made big concessions to our local customs already, say by not beating or raping their nanny. but basically, this below-stairs gossip is none of your business except as to your suggestion to stop socializing with tbe accused diplomats.
3
Re the cheater don't rat her out. Send a copy of original poem to teacher.
Re the nanny tell the employers they need to treat her fairly or you will report them to authorities. If not willing to do it forget it.
9
I think we need more ethics columns.
16
@petert100Or maybe just more ethics .... Perhaps if nothing else, the comment strings on these columns demonstrate the often questioned value of a liberal arts education that includes the interdisciplinary study of philosophy, critical thinking, history, and literature. The comments have yielded a lively discussion ... one that the students in Letter #1, and the employers in Letter #2, should be having. Perhaps if they had had the discussions, the dilemmas would not have arisen in the first place; so many ethical transgressions arise from people just not thinking about the implications of what they do, but doing 'whatever works for me'.
9
Regarding the mom asking if her teen should report a plagiarizing peer: Unless somebody is a Pentagon whistleblower, has spotted embezzling, or wants to protect someone in danger of physical harm, being an ethical person doesn't always require reporting others' misdeeds. In fact, it would be nakedly self-serving, if not unethical, for this student or her mom to tell the teacher that another student is plagiarizing writing assignments/exams. Cheating is wrong. And nobody should look the other way if someone is in mortal danger. But that’s very different from teens reporting a peer who is unfairly perceived as being talented, due to plagiarism. The cheater will eventually be caught by an observant teacher, and will pay a heavy price. But it is not this family's job to out her. I see the heavy hand of the mom here, who apparently thinks that the cheating girl prevents her daughter’s brilliance from being sufficiently recognized. It’s not her daughter’s moral character that she’s protecting, but rather her own distorted view of success as a zero-sum-game. Grading writing is not an exact science. Destroying a dishonest peer won't boost her own daughter’s grades or moral character. It'll make her a pariah. She shouldn't compare herself to others or destroy rivals, even those with unfair advantage. This mom should realize her teen has plenty of time to win a Pulitzer. Mom should use this as a teachable moment: do your own work honestly, work hard, and even cheaters can't stop you.
13
@I Don't My C L
Could be a father, too.
1
@I Don't My C L
I agree. Also, imagine the daughter "campaigning" to get fellow students to join her in ratting out the cheater: she will be seen as -- and probably feel like she is -- "out to get" a competitor. Where's the value in that? Mom should definitely use this as a teachable moment to do one's own work and feel good about it -- and for herself to learn to start backing off living her daughter's life for her. So many times here, the answer is MYOB!
4
Rather than expect one student to speak to the teacher what would happen if as a group they spoke to the teacher, not in a ratting out manner, but as concerned students? One isn't doing a fellow student ANY favours by letting a well known fact slide. Also makes one wonder how competent the teacher is if he/she cannot recognize a piece of work from a former student.
8
There is one element of this situation that wasn't discussed. The teacher, if competent, should be aware of this cheating. Kids often get away with this behavior once, twice...but the teacher should be suspicious after a while and s/he will deal with the problem. I taught 35 years in middle school and 14 years at the college level. It's very easy to catch students who cheat if the teacher is keenly aware of each student's work habits. I must share one instance that was hilarious from my point but disastrous for the student. A graduate student gave me a weak paper barely earning a B-. I mentioned the topic to my wife, also a professor at the same college. She said she had the same paper the year before...ah yes, this man attempted to use work from one course to complete requirements for a different course - strictly prohibited by the college. If it had not been my wife, he probably would never have been found out...but aha! He was given an F and had to retake the course. His wife was paying for his tuition...I can't imagine the noise in that household over this. I was the only professor offering the course the next semester and he was stuck with me - and to his credit, he did an outstanding job the second time through. Our department had many laughs at this poor man's dilemma.
18
@BillI I hope he learned if nothing more than to do it right the first time so he doesn't have to go through it again -esp. with is brother-in-law. We can't practice good ethics in teaching and morals at home if we let our own get away with it. The young lady has more than one thing to learn but I hope an anonymous note and copy to the teacher is used to teach her and her classmates that they can't get away all the time. Teachers do have to do more double checking of sources for students' work. Too much is being copied and too few are checked. Then they wonder why they get fired when caught on their jobs.
4
Any teacher involved with any kind of original writing these days will run it through a plagiarism detection program.
13
@Frank Not all high schools have access to these but they should. The district has to supply them in most cases.
7
@Frank Like a number of other responses that try to shift the blame to the teacher (why not? nowadays the teacher's to blame for everything, never the kid or the parents), you overlook that the cheater cribbed the work of another student. There is no reason the teacher should know of every paper written by every student, much less remember it.
In his preface to his short story 'Morality', Stephen King confesses to having written papers for pay when he was an impecunious student. However, he always made it a point to look at a few samples of the cheater's work, so as not to write so far above the cheater's skill level as to arouse suspicion. Unlike many of the commenters here, though, King fully admits that although he really did need the money at the time, his collaboration in cheating was wrong - and his story explores the slippery-slope consequences of slacking the reins on one's ethical standards. The cheating student in LW#1's letter has set a foot on a sleep, slick path. While LW#1 can't make the decision for her daughter, she owes it to the woman her daughter is becoming, as well as to the student body and the society her daughter will enter upon graduation, and, if she believes in a higher power, to that higher power, to *do the right thing*.
10
@Frank
Dream on.
1
There’s a real choice here- but only one that’s obvious as a learning experience. This youngster can go along with the group and say nothing; this is safe and easy, or she can do what’s right, ‘rat’ (if you must or like 30’s gangster movies) and accept a bunch of heat, possibly even some degree of ostracization from the group. But this is the cost of learning what integrity is all about. This is the difference between becoming a Willy Brandt and those who allow a Holocaust to happen. Even small diamonds are more valuable than coal.
22
I have read every comment, but will confine my contribution to the conversation to scenario #1. Scenario #2 presents a complex legal question about which I am not competent to advise. Shooting from the lip helps no one.
Here goes. Lots of commentators mention the presence of an Honor Code in many schools and universities. In fact, every university with which I have been affiliated over the past nearly 50 years now includes an Academic Integrity Policy in the college catalogue, a publication considered to be a student's contract with the college. My current employer takes this policy very seriously. In addition, I include a Student Contract which every student must sign to move forward in the course. Among its ten items is a reiteration of a zero tolerance policy for cheating or plagiarism.
However, it occurs to me now that in order to encourage student reporting of violations they observe directly or possess documentary evidence, the institution should consider a “whistle-blower” provision to protect the anonymity of the reporting party. The burden still rests squarely with the professor to examine the evidence and corroborate it as only the professor may be able to do. Is it lots of work? You bet. However, it’s a “brand” that has followed me for years that respect for the intellectual property of others and maintaining one’s personal integrity on assignments and exams are non-negotiable items. It’s a brand worth maintaining and modeling for my students as well.
28
@Peggy Good idea and the " schools" might want to take look in the mirror themselves.
3
@petert100: Excellent addition to the conversation, petert. Thanks for taking the time to reply.
This is in response to the exploited nanny story. Truly a nightmare situation, with no apparent good outcome for the victim. My only feeble suggestion for this atrocity, which no doubt is common among "diplomatic" savages from certain countries. is for her friend to approach their Member of Congress .Ask if there is any way to guarantee the victim's safety if she manages (via her friend?) to hire a lawyer.
10
While I don’t condone cheating, to rat on someone, to me is what it is...a rat. The cheater will in one way or another pay for their actions at some point.
2
@MB
I agree with you. I don't think of them as "rats", a prison term, but I do think of whistle blowers as taking a great risk, though in the adult world, sometimes admirable and necessary. In the student world, the need for peer approval can have many permutations. Her daughter may later regret having outed the other student, not that she approves of her behavior. She should distance herself and disengage. The mother is overblowing the issue.
3
@MB
If everyone ignores the cheating, how is the cheater made to pay?
Why be loyal to someone who cares more for their own success than for honesty and integrity?
I don't get it.
22
@MB
You don't really believe that, do you? When should that point be?
7
Saddest of all is that the Mother even has to ask the question.
9
@Donna Muse I agree.....
4
@Donna Muse
or perhaps father?
The Ethicist said: "The real reason this young person should be reported is that what he or she has done is wrong. "
Why? What are your guiding principles? Must all wrongdoing be reported under any and all circumstances?
3
If I were the Mother in this case, I would leave the whole thing alone. Your daughter's virtues, skills, abilities will see her through her matriculations. That is all you should concern yourself with.
Eventually the cheater's manipulations will land him or her on their own petard. The youngsters in these classes will not "rat out" this cheater either as individuals or as a group.
Your daughter should chill out and realize that cheating is part of our society and culture and part of life. Her own abilities will see her through this life and she should see to it that they do. The Mother should also chill out on this other than to instruct her daughter in the ways of what she considers goodness and light.
Everyone cheats and everyone cheats at something. Those of us who are fortunate or lucky get away with it.
3
@Reggie
That attitude is part of what is wrong with society and what got #45 elected. Only those who cheat thinks everyone else does.
39
@Reggie
I agree with everything that you said, except the "everyone cheats" part. Actually, not everyone does.
14
@Reggie. Really? Everyone cheats? What a sad world you live in. I would imagine that sooner or later your fortune/luck will run out.
30
Situation 2
The key statement is the question is “from what I have been told”. The writers information is at best, second hand. If she is truly interested in her nanny’s friend, she will somehow arrange to talk to her privately to assess the situation. There is really nothing to talk about without first hand information.
8
This is how it starts. Left unchecked, that lying cheating student may some day grow up to be president. But how do we teach honor, values and morals when the sitting president, the leader and supposed role model of the nation, sets such a low bar.
34
Good luck getting a group to come forward together. Look what is happening in our own nation (and elsewhere) these days. A
wholesale disregard for honesty and work of any kind to achieve something. Its all about the result (the Buck/the Power/etc). We have a so-called president who is a habitual liar and a cheat (along with much more). Where is the outrage? Where is the group of "Adults" who will come forward to change things ? So you expect young kids to do it when adults can't ?
18
Yes, it should be reported. Anonymously. By doing it anonymously it prevents retribution. By reporting it relieves your daughter’s fear and guilt in reporting. She will be learning a lesson and teaching a lesson.
12
@Brenda
There is no way to do this anonymously. She has already shared with a few people. It won't take long to figure out whodunit. How do you not know this? The best result would be for everyone to talk to authorities together.
3
I question how the student was accepted into a writing program at Arts High. Did she cheat to get in? Also, where is the teacher in all this? Is the teacher a new instructor in the program and how much of the work is done in the class? I taught for 47 years and there were many times I caught plagiarized papers. It's best for the student cheater to be held accountable.
17
Excellent suggestions for both situations. Must read your books!
It used to be that cheating was harder to discover. On my college campus the fraternities kept files of papers and tests used to improve their grades at the expense of others. The price of access was being rich enough to join the fraternity.
Now there are websites that allow all students to do that for a fee. Cheating begats cheating in life, whether it be in college, extramarital affairs, or passing off a coworker's ideas and efforts as their own. It is an unethical method for a self-centered person to better themselves with no effort at the expense of others.
The commercialization of college courses has gotten to the point where packaged courses including everything from lectures to homework and exams are sold to multiple colleges. The schools then either allow or force "teachers" to use those materials, with or without actual teaching.
This isn't teaching; it is lowering the quality of the education provided while collecting tuition that is competitive with real institutes of higher learning. Further money is made when students buy access to homework, exams, and papers in order to compete with students do the same thing.
Right now we have a country that is learning the benefits of lying and cheating by watching a government stocked with incompetents, liars, and cheats, most notably POTUS.
No country ever does well when their "best and brightest" are cheats drowning out real competency. This author ducks hard ethical decisions by downplaying the consequences.
30
Re the cheating letter.
I see another issue at work here, and one the daughter needs to learn -- the sooner in life the better. Her friends, as a group, agree that it should be reported, and are encouraging this young woman to do so. Makes my skin crawl!
Getting others to do your bidding comes naturally to some people. In others it's learned.
Of course this should be reported.
10
Perhaps there's another way for the high school student with the cheating classmate. Instead of "quietly" pointing out that she'd been caught at it, call her out loudly and publicly. Let her be the one who takes the consequences of her behavior.
4
As a poet, and having read that the poem in question was written by a "former student" (perhaps someone the daughter knows personally?), I'm wondering how the person who actually wrote the poem would feel about all this. I might have a fleeting moment of pride that someone chose my poem to plagiarize, but that would be followed very quickly by anger. What if it's a piece that the poet was submitting to journals for publication (or if it had already been published)? Poets can be a competitive bunch, and getting a poem published in a good journal (or, better yet, a book of one's own) is not easy. If a good poem is floating around with another plagiarizing writer's name attached to it, things could get complicated.
Is it possible for the daughter to let the REAL poet know what has happened?
20
@NGB
Informing the author of the poem's theft is the best suggestion I've read. Thank you for pointing it out.
9
Perhaps because the query was submitted by a mother and it had to do with how her daughter should respond to a situation, but I'm struck that in the 25 or so responses I read, nobody saw that this was an especially teachable moment for the plagiarist.
Appropriating someone else's work and passing it off as your own is not right, and doing that carries consequences. In the real world, people who do this are severely ostracized, and in some cases even go to jail. So spending some time with a student who obviously thinks this is ok (he/she shrugged it off) would seem to be one of the first things any teacher should do. As a former teacher, I know that in the classroom, good teachers teach more than the subject. At times they have to teach some values. Your ethicist -- and many of your commenters -- seem to have missed this entirely, and that's kind of disturbing.
10
@John Devils advocate, maybe the student is bored to death and is hoping to be called out?
RE: The cheater. People who begin a habit of cheating during the K-12 school years, and who are positively reinforced for it by better grades, teacher recognition for having produced good results, will continue to do so. It will be the negative reinforcers - being exposed and shamed and having it impact their grades - that will stop the behavior. Think about President Trump, who is a case studying in engaging in cheating and lying (along with other bad behaviors) from his K-12 years and who now feels entitled by years of being positively reinforced for them (he is President, no less!). If he had been exposed and shamed and punished for these behaviors early on, he might not have adopted them as his standard operating procedure throughout his life and career. Same dynamics of reinforcement theory apply to most of us, on a lesser scale.
15
In regards to plagiarism, the fact a parent has to ask questions on this forum, is peculiar. And no offense to the parent, but they seem to be breeding a type of cowardice. We, all know what is right and what is wrong. Unfortunately, we have to be guided to make the, "right" decision.
In my opinion, and its only an opinion. Stop it. Call it out. For me its really basic. There are many grey areas, and fine lines. This problem seems to be more about social status, its high school. Everyone makes mistakes, let them learn it and move on.
I can not believe I am actually commenting on this...
7
Re: the exploited nanny: There IS something that the reader's nanny (or the reader) can do: report the exploiting employer to one of the domestic worker organizations that specialize in assisting nannies and home care workers in this position. For instance, Damayan (www.damayanmigrants.org) has rescued scores of domestic workers from similar situations, including one from the household of a supposedly immune diplomat. They help the workers in these situations to deal with visa issues and other problems and help them to find alternative employment. The National Domestic Workers Alliance, based in NYC, (www.domesticworkers.org) may also be able to help. This is not a situation we should allow to continue!
24
I have taken many writing workshops and taught writing for many years before becoming an editor, and I’d like to offer a couple of thoughts from the teacher’s perspective. Unless the teacher is a real greenhorn, he or she is almost certainly already aware of the plagiarism, or will be presently, without any help from students to recognize it. There is no emergency requiring any student(s) to snitch on the cheater. The real problem here is the social cost to the culprit, whose claim to her place in the hierarchy is bogus, and she knows it. She knows she’s not really participating like everyone else. To consolidate the class against her will only make that separation worse. It would all but eliminate redemption as a possibility, and that would be a shame. Unless the school has a mandatory expulsion policy or something, there is a valuable lesson to be learned if a creative teacher really knows how to push a student’s buttons. If the school has an honor code requiring snitching, the snitches might find some cover for ratting out their classmate; otherwise, the snitches may be viewed afterward in as dim a light as the cheater. What if the delegation you propose were to appeal directly to the cheater, letting the scofflaw know that it is their norms, and not only the school’s that she is flouting?
3
To me, this is a teachable moment about taking pride in your own work and accomplishments rather than focusing on what other people do or don’t do. Constantly feeling wronged by “the other guy” has become a national pastime.
4
When I was in the 12th grade I found out some kids cheated on their final exams, exams that play a factor in college entrance, scholarships etc. I spoke to a teacher I liked, trusted and looked up to and asked him if I could/should report the cheating (didn't give him any names). He kind of just shrugged and sighed, "Oh well, they're done school now. What can you do?" and concluded with a sort of what-goes-around-comes-around remark.
That was a difficult but valuable lesson for me as a 16 year old. Sure, I knew life wasn't fair--I was the oldest child after-all. But this really hit it home. I thought, when it came down to it, in what appeared to be black and white circumstances, an adult would do what's right and remedy the injustice and the perpetrators would at least learn a lesson. So much for that illusion.
In the professional environment, I was astounded just how much people lie on their resumes. Not just inflate a bit here and there (do we all do it?) but lie about significant achievements, skills, awards, schools, previous positions, past salaries etc. Men seem to have less of an issue with this than women...
Cheaters and liars can reap the rewards without ever being caught or anyone caring. All we can do is hold ourselves up to our own ethical standards and hopefully have the fortitude to call out injustice when it is doing material harm to others.
12
Most schools have honor codes that make explicit that cheating and plagiarism are forbidden and punishable. I am sorry that the writer's daughter doesn't feel comfortable enough to go to them and say, I know of an honor code violation and I don't know what to do. That said, jealousy and competitiveness are not good impulses to report plagiarism. The writer should speak with her daughter about how turning in someone else for cheating will not make her a better writer and developing the right heart before taking action in any circumstance.
1
In high school, in the late ‘60’s, my public school started a literary magazine that offered a cash award for the best submissions. One very unlikely student (at least to those of us on the editorial board) submitted stunning poems—about lost love and adventure. He won the top prize. Many of us young women memorized and secretly recited the most touching poems and were greatly affected by them. Our opinion of the submitter changed—he became mysterious and the object of many crushes as we conjectured about who the object of the poems might be. I recently found my 50-year-old copy of this “magazine” and wondered what had happened to the poet. Googling his name produced nothing, so I searched the first line of my favorite poem. I soon discovered that every one of his poems had been stolen from then-obscure literary journals. I was shocked, my teenaged beliefs in the creative potential of even the most unlikely of individuals (and my crush on him) devastated by this fraud, which not even the faculty advisor (who had expressed his doubts that the poet had written the poems given their high quality—which we students soundly rejected) could have uncovered in that pre-internet time. One could argue that the fraudster aided us by exposing us to these poems and fueling our fantasies, but even in my now “old age” I am greatly saddened to have had a part of my youthful innocence and early wistful pining destroyed by this plagiarism.
15
Plagiarism is a serious problem. In college, there is usually zero tolerance of this from professors. It seems to be assumed that students will know what plagiarism is and and how to correctly attribute others' writings and ideas. People have lost their jobs for plagiarizing others' work.
The student should learn this lesson in high school, with a less serious penalty. Will it be handled well by the school (as a teaching moment)? Who knows?
7
As a University Department Head I reviewed the tenure application of a colleague who claimed to have published 14 academic articles. None of them existed. When I submitted a documented 201-page report opposing the tenure application, the entire university administration was furious with me and I was dismissed from Department Headship, with a 25% reduction in salary. It can be amazing how invested a system becomes in protecting its own reputation, even at the cost of harboring fraudulent activity. Airing the University's dirty laundry was far worse than tolerating academic fraud. At our university, students were regularly expelled each semester for plagiarism and academic dishonesty. And when you consider that the only real thing a student earns at the end of studies is a degree based on the tutelage of presumably competent, trained, accomplished academics, it becomes even more baffling. Sometimes the system closes ranks to protect its own. This was my unfortunate lesson in becoming a whistleblower concerned about academic integrity.
18
Re LW 1 - this is a major learning experience for the LW’s daughter. One approach would would be to provide her with a matrix of sorts that she could apply in the future, to similar situations, using a series of questions. Here’s an example. 1. What, exactly, happened? Do I have substantive evidence that wrongdoing actually occurred? 2. Why is it wrong? Because I don’t like it, or because of a higher moral reason? 3. Is it likely to continue if not corrected? 4. Is it significant? Are there significant consequences/disadvantages for the person doing wrong, for others, for the institution, if not corrected? 5. Am I willing, or should I be willing, to live with the consequences of attempting to correct the situation? If not, why not? 6. What is the best way to attempt correction? And in answer to #1 and #6, I suggest that the LW’s daughter needs to be very sure of her evidence especially re: cheating on the exam, and then the best way is to give the offender an opportunity to self-correct, and if that doesn’t happen, the LW’s daughter should be willing to “own” it and the consequences by bringing it, and the evidence, to the attention of school authorities.
1
Speaking as an educator who has encountered student cheating, I think the daughter should tell her classmate and her friends that she knows the poem is plagiarized and that if the offending student will not own up to this himself (e.g., confess to the teacher), she will provide the proof. Lying to get want you want has become normalized these days, especially among that peer group in D.C., so if we want to improve the world, the sooner we teach young students that lying and stealing have consequences, the better off we all are.
9
Re the daughter with the cheating classmate; My daughters are both grown now and I have never regretted the times when I listened to them without giving advice. There is just something about telling a parent and then having that parent express a fixed opinion that gets in a young person's way. This student has more insight into how her teacher is likely to react, how her friends are likely to react, than her parent does. The parent's role here would be to listen and encourage—tell the daughter she is proud of her and trusts her to think it through, and that she (mom) is always happy to listen if she (daughter) wants to talk about it.
22
Re: Plagiarism
"Nothing fixes a value in your mind better than having stood up for it together with your friends". Disagree: I think having the emotional strength and moral center to stand up and speak out, even when one's stance is not supported by one's friends, "fixes a value".
The mother's response, "I think my daughter has an obligation to stop the cheating by informing the teacher", could be more fully formed. 1.) A student reporting an observation of plagiarism will not necessarily force the teacher to take an action that meets the informer's approval, nor necessarily make the cheater stop. 2.) My opinion is that if the mother more strongly modeled plagiarism is wrong/reporting to school authorities is required, then the daughter might more smoothly navigate the path to bring her observations to school authorities. 3.) I did not attend schools/universities with honor codes, nor did I teach at two expensive private schools with honor codes. However, a number of readers' comments taught me how wonderful schools are that rigorously enact strict honor codes: the observer of plagiarism is as guilty as the perpetrator, and the power of the group supports every member of the group to internalize and act out the principle that your work means your work, and nobody else's.
8
Another thought on perhaps why the "group" didn't want to get involved - perhaps they have cheated at some point and identified with the student cheating. Why do I offer this? My husband teaches at CUNY. At the start of each semester, in order to minimize the temptation to cheat, he starts an open conversation about cheating with his students. He asks the students to raise their hands if they have ever cheated - ever - in any class.
The results are that as many as 2/3 of each class raise their hands.
What does this tell us? Certainly that cheating is more than an isolated occasional occurrence. In this specific situation - should the daughter tell, of course the answer is yes. Surreptitiously, probably. But the teacher and administrators need to know.
In all probability, it is more often than not, overlooked - and that may be one key factor on why so many Americans don't quite get it as to why others are so concerned about the conduct of public officials and private citizens.
In a society, in a classroom, every link counts. And if we are no stronger than our weakest links, it is up to us to take notice and be part of the fix.
"We are naturally moral beings, but our environment can enhance -- or sadly, degrade -- this innate moral sense," said Paul Bloom, Yale's professor of psychology, based studies of infants. It is parents and then schools and society which reinforce our basic instincts to do the right thing - at least for some of us.
17
@Simonides To go a step further . . . today's parents eagerness for the "success" of their children encourages the kids to take shortcuts to success. In my day, parents were so busy doing their best to provide necessities, they didn't have the time or energy to 'steer' their children. Maybe we should back up a little.
3
Cheating in high school sets a pattern for cheating at university and in careers. It is not simply unethical - which it certainly is. It is also a crime. At the university where I teach great emphasis is put on the academic honor code. Both faculty and students are expected to uphold it. This means for oneself, not cheating or plagiarizing. But also students and faculty are expected to report cheating or plagiarizing they discover. Reports must be sent to the academic dean and are put into the student's file. Reports may trigger a hearing and a student with three reports on file may face expulsion from the university. Plagiarism is a serious offense.
33
@Barbara I totally agree.
3
I may be judged harshly for admitting this, but I wrote a paper for a friend in high school, and a friend wrote a poem that I submitted as my own along with others I had written. None of us go into trouble, and we grew into respectable/respected adults raising our own children or stepchildren. We (or at least I) understood that what we did was wrong at the time, and I shudder a little when I think about it. Did we get away with it because we came from middle-class professional families and went to a private school? I work as a pro bono attorney with at-risk children and am surprised at how little tolerance there is for their misbehavior. Things I got away with are "criminal" if the child doing it comes from the wrong side of town. Surely, I wasn't the only person with lapses as a teenager. None all of us grow up to be unethical adults.
27
@Katie. I never cheated in school, but I've done other things, risky things, that make me shudder when I look back. I came from an upper middle-class family family and after seven years in the military and three in law school ended up as a defense lawyer, representing people from all classes, including, oddly enough, other lawyers. I never anguished over class issues. In my experience, when it came to sentencing after conviction for a serious crime, the well-off and otherwise successful defendant received no favor. In fact, his status was more likely to be held against him.
4
Concerning the plagiarizing student, in the end it comes to the question of choosing the easier option, or the right one.
9
This poem thing happened in the PrairieFlax circle of friends many decades ago, and through the decades, I never spoke up about the plagiarism. I guess it doesn't matter now, as the classmate published it on the school literary magazine and never tried to do anything else with it. And there are Google programs to check for plagiarism should she ever try (we are now all 60-somethings; it happened when she was 19 and I was 21). She even plagiarized names in the poem, including one very unusual one that would be easy enough to check. She never did anything else with poetry since then, though. I am a retired teacher, however, and would never knowingly have accepted plagiarism from any of my students. We didn't want to turn in a friend, though, way back when.
8
Two ethical matters. A cheater and an exploiter. Either and both must called out. Just because the elected president gets away with one on the golf course and the other in his rich people clubs doesn’t make it acceptable for anyone else.
24
What to do about the plagiarizing student is up to the daughter - not the letter writer (her mother). Her mother can offer her daughter counsel about right and wrong (though the daughter seems to clearly understand that plagiarizing is wrong), and possibly help her figure out what SHE thinks she ought to do. But it's the daughter's conscience at stake.
Speaking of helicoptering ...
39
Unfortunately, reporting the plagiarist may have terrible social consequences. We in this forum don't know the lengths to which a user/exploiter will go; it is not the child's responsibility (let's really focus on that word: "child") to sacrifice her emotional and social safety on this particular altar.
Speaking to a teacher or other adult, and letting them handle it while protecting the child's identity, is often the way to handle this sort of situation. But it seems that in this case anonymity is no longer an option.
Express your sincere admiration to your child that she confronted the plagiarist, and talk about how to handle it the next time. She will see this same sort of thing many times in her life, in school and out.
20
@Benjamin Teral Let's rather stress that the daughter is in high school. That's not a 'child', that's a young woman. Not a full adult, true; but the word 'child' wrongly evokes the image of a hapless toddler.
This student not only is clearly old enough to know right from wrong, she does know.
In previous eras she would have taken on adult responsibilities. Juliet was not 14, but old enough for marriage and motherhood; a Jewish boy at 13 is Bar Mitzvah, responsible in the eyes of God. Before adulthood got postponed to accommodate additional schooling, 'children' entered the workforce as soon as they were able (and many still do).
I know there's 'neuroscience' to show the brain's higher functions aren't fully mature till around age 26. But maturity is a gradual process. You don't reach your adult height till around 16-18; but we don't wheel kids around in prams till they're 18, then dump them and expect them to walk. A toddler can't run marathons, but he gradually learns to walk. The same is true of all skills - and ethics and responsibility are skills as well as qualities. Social consequences? No one ever said it would be easy, even before FB and the internet.
28
@ACW
I appreciate your thoughts.
But I'm not sure what a 400-year-old work of fiction, or a religious ceremony originating thousands of years ago, have to do with today's high school student. Do you support the marriage of 14-year old girls in America today, or the enlistment of 13-year-old boys in the armies of Africa? Of course not. Why not? I'm afraid that any honest answer would use the word "child".
My particular objection to many of the comments is how casually this considerably older, fairly privileged, and I think quite disconnected readership, insists that a high school student should make a particular decision. How many of those comments come from folks who have recently had a child in high school? It's just not that simple.
I have 2 sons in college. Through all of childhood, I encouraged them to make their own decisions, and let them make plenty of their own mistakes. I very occasionally stepped in and said, "Let's talk about this situation. It is a little more complicated than you might think, and may have consequences that you haven't considered."
Thanks for listening. I really do appreciate your comment. But I do disagree.
50
@Benjamin Teral: Sigh. I guess I should know better by now than to draw on literary or philosophical examples, lest someone not recognize their intention as metaphor or metonymy.
My point was that 'adolescence' is a relatively new invention - the word and concept are a bit over 100 years old. For millennia, until recently, adolescents had to grow up, step up, know right from wrong, and take responsibility. Were that not true, we wouldn't have civilization (such as it is) at all.
Maybe adolescents cannot reason on the level of Kant, Spinoza, Nietzsche (few can, at any age); but I do not think it is overtaxing their mental and emotional resources to understand why cheating is wrong and to do the right thing even if you don't necessarily get rewarded or applauded for it.
I think our fundamental difference is not resolvable. A teenager is a 'minor', a status acknowledging the imperfect, developing nature of his/her/its/their faculties; but not a 'child'. If you treat an adolescent as a 'child', the young person often will gladly hide within that fort of non-responsibility as long as possible.
Still, thanks for reading and responding. This whole debate has certainly been worthwhile!
I faced this dilemma in grade school. A decade later that same offender from grade school was caught plagiarizing an AP Government paper. I wish I had made the moral choice in grade school instead of the popular one. That girl never treated me like a human anyway.
36
One of the earliest pieces of advice to me from father when I was a kid in the 1970’s: Never be rat. Everyone will hate you.
If no one’s safety or well-being is concerned, I consider it good advice.
11
@Olivia
But they ARE at risk. Re-read Kwames reply
1
@Olivia
Seriously terrible advice.
4
@Olivia The esteem of anyone who'd hate you for doing what's right and honest is not worth having. The hatred of such people is a badge of honour. And if you do not do what is right and honest, the person in the mirror will hate you, or at least be ashamed of you, and will be right to do so.
That's the advice from my father.
Who was your father?! Michael Corleone?!
6
Mr. Appiah really dropped the ball on the nanny situation. How did he completely ignore the State Department's efforts to ensure every applicant for a temporary worker visa understands their rights while in the United States? This is an egregious oversight - and given the tone of the rest of his response, smacks of being deliberate.
The very first Google search result for "rights for workers on visas" is the State Department's "Rights and Protections for Temporary Workers" page, which links to resources in 48 different languages. Visa adjudicators must confirm every temporary employment visa applicant has received, reviewed, and understands this information. The pamphlet they get highlights their key rights and explains how to report violations via the National Human Trafficking Hotline, run by the non-government anti-trafficking organization Polaris.
The letter-writer could help her nanny provide this information to her friend - likely in the friend's native language - and encourage her to seek assistance. It's possible the nanny being exploited may decide to put up with the wage and hour violations to keep her job, but as long as she knows her rights and is not in actual danger, that seems to be the limit of what the letter-writer can do.
It's unfortunate Mr. Appiah seems to consider making sure the exploited nanny knows she has rights and options "nothing good," simply because it falls short of his ideal. That's no excuse for failing to mention these resources at all.
39
@RL I would agree with what you're saying except that the employer is a diplomat, which diplomatic immunity, and basically will not face any legal consequences. Thus, the nanny has little recourse. If she complains to the authorities, or the employer is concerned she might complain, she will likely be sent back to her home country, which she may want.
So, yes, it might be a good idea to provide the nanny with information about her rights. But the information provided should include information on how those rights are likely unenforceable legally b/c of the diplomatic status of her employer.
22
@RL It appears the nanny understands her right to the contracted salary and conditions. It also appears she has little faith in either government to treat her fairly and let her remain employed in the U.S. should she take formal action to complain. Perhaps the State Department could do more to make sure the diplomats understand their legal obligations?
15
@RL Oh that the institutions we have could actually enforce the law and be effective especially in the current political climate of the US. A similar situation occurred in Ottawa (Canada) about a decade ago. The employee hired by the diplomat eventually sought asylum at a Unitarian Church, if I remember correctly and was there for at least two years. I suspect the nanny sends monies to her family in her home country and sadly, is probably still in a "better" work position than she would be back where she came from. This is the plight of overseas workers in many parts of the world. I do not condone it. I think Mr. Appiah gave realistic advice that reduces the risk of the inquirer acting in good faith with good intentions but causing more harm to the said nanny than good. How is this nanny to navigate a system that requires time, a high level of literacy and money when she is already as busy as she is with her current employment schedule? An individual in a new country with no moral and financial support from an organization that could advocate for her is not likely to "win."
12
As for the plagiarism, the child obviously has a conscience, they should be freed to use it to guide them. Pretty simple stuff. How it is done is of little matter.
7
LW2: There's a precedent for this. An Indian diplomat in NYC, 2013 was nailed for a similarly egregious offense. See
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devyani_Khobragade_incident. Preet Bharara's office helped the victim obtain justice.
45
Uh huh, plagiarism is as old as time. Show me a book or verse and I’ll show you an older one with the same idea or even words. It’s all in the execution of these recycled ideas. This is the unfortunate reality we live in. As long as it’s not physically harming someone or depriving another of a prize, this is life. So if you are bothered ask yourself whether it’s because you want to hobble that shameless cheater to ensure your daughter stays ahead in class or because you alone are righteous in this world. My question is not sarcastic or mean, it’s merely about being self aware. There are no altruistic humans. So we must realize that everyone has something to gain by an action. Be honest. Then advice.
Really, and your maid is not yanking your sympathy chain in order to gain points? This belongs in the realm of the hypothetical till it’s not. If you seek forensic evidence, you can find out and act, else please focus on whether you are doing good in the world.
7
@Meena I think you're failing to distinguish conscious, intentional plagiarism from some other circumstances: e.g., unconscious plagiarism, which usually involves only a phrase or a few words, which the plagiarist honestly recalls but doesn't remember the source and thinks them to be an original inspiration.
There is also allusion, where a phrase or idea is quoted without attribution, on the assumption that the reader knows the source; and adaptation, which draws on an older source.
No one thinks Shakespeare 'plagiarised' 'Hamlet' because he drew on an older play, or John Updike plagiarized 'Gertrude and Claudius' because he based his novel on 'Hamlet'; or that Sondheim and Bernstein plagiarized 'West Side Story' because it's a retelling of 'Romeo and Juliet'. Or if I say 'you call it recycling, or realism, but I call it plagiarism; that which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet, and plagiarism stinks no matter what we call it', I'm expecting you to catch the attribution.
In this case, though, the cheater lifted the poem wholesale and was quite aware of what she was doing.
What the daughter might have to gain from reporting the cheater might also include integrity and self-respect .... and the possibility that, far from being 'alone ... righteous in this world', she might set an example for other students and make the world that much better a place, even by a tiny scrap.
19
@Meena
Your attitude toward both situations strikes me with its breathtaking cynicism, comfort with situational ethics and even nihilism.
Shockingly, you state, "There are no altruistic humans." But I have been reading studies of evolutionary altruism since high school, beginning with observations of it among primates (and assumptively, early hominids). Altruism not only exists, it gave our ancestors a profound survival advantage.
Your suspicions that the writer's own maid is "yanking your sympathy chain in order to gain points" and "you want to hobble that shameless cheater to ensure your daughter stays ahead in class" are so counter-intuitive that they make me wonder if you also believe in conspiracy theories.
Also you don't seem to appreciate the vast difference between people deriving creative inspiration from the works of another and reflecting that in their own work --- and defiant, shameless plagiarism.
I believe that the seeds of plagiarism and cheating are sown by parental expectations and social pressures long before high school. A student so sure that their own honest work is manifestly inferior that they plagiarize is more concerned with the appearance of success than their own actual potential and achievement. To me, that reveals a psychological problem when a student confuses spurious outward recognition with true achievement and accepts maningless accolades as real and belonging to them.
4
Afraid that your advice to the cheater does not take most academic honor codes into account. Under many codes reporting peer dishonesty is required and remaining silent is considered complicity. At University of Virginia, you could be expelled for it.
41
Sorry, but your response to Letter No. 1 is, well, unethical. If we judge what action we take on whether our peer group is likely to stand up for us when we call out cheating, then you are encouraging cowardice. To stand up against a group in denouncing wrongdoing, and be willing to suffer persecution or worse, is one of the hallmarks of leading an ethical life. I suggest that this young student who is concerned with plagiarism in class be encouraged to read Viktor Frankl... and consider perhaps a career in investigative reporting.
33
Many years ago I went to Asia where the person I stayed with pointed to a small marble square near the kitchen counter and told me: "That's where the Amah will sleep."
I was appalled and remember it as though it were yesterday.
I sincerely hope the U.S. never sinks to level of not paying people for a decent day's work. Those who do should be ashamed of themselves. It's abusive and disgusting.
Furthermore, I believe Preet Bharara was involved in a case similar to this (12/2013?), and the maid reported the family. It must have been a very courageous choice; however, doing the right thing often is.
"He said while the law is clearly set forth on the State Department website, there have been other public cases in the United States involving other countries, and some involving India, where the mistreatment of domestic workers by diplomats or consular officers was charged criminally."
https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/maids-family-evacuated-to-us-bharara/269778
25
Very wrong and dangerous to have your writer who found a classmate plagiarizing do what you recommend. If the student started the group you suggest, even with the cautions you add, she will almost certainly find that even her closest friends may well have very different opinions from hers. By communicating the plagiarism even to one or two close friends, the student may also discover that others in class have found out about the plagiarizing and who discovered and is concerned about it. The more anonymity here the better. The object is to make sure the criminal is captured, whatever that will mean in the specific circumstances.
10
Your daughter's Art school likely has each student to sign an honesty pledge stating that the work on that signed paper is their own and they didn't cheat. She is honor bound by that pledge to report any plagiarism or cheating she discovers. She should report the cheating to her teachers at both schools.
17
You can be a superior writer and a cheater. The two things are not mutually exclusive. Apparently the art school hasn't introduced students to artistic homage yet. Like scientists, most artists are cheaters on some level. No one alive today invented perspective drawing. We are all standing on the shoulders of giants in some way.
With a plagiarist though, there's an open intent to deceive. It's like writing a novel with the expectation everyone will believe a novel has never been written before. The crime is if someone actually believes the plagiarist. In which case, anyone who does recognize the falsity attempt has a responsibility to call them out.
If I were in the same situation, I would read the plagiarized poem aloud before the class using the original copy. When the teacher notices the same poem is being read a second week, submit the evidence with an explanation. You solve both problems at once. The teacher is informed and the entire class is made aware of the other student's plagiarism. Those who know can support the public speaker. There's no reason to be secretive about it. The bold action will most likely be rewarded socially.
14
Perhaps this is life-lesson that can be taught to children. If you see plagiarized material on the internet, the only person you can report it to is its lawful owner. In most cases that would mean the owner of a copyrighted poem. In the real world, outside of the classroom, there is no such thing as a copyright police. If there were a way to teach this life-lesson to children, then it is something they could carry with them their entire life.
2
The first letter and many of these comments certainly clarify
how the expanse of the recent college cheating scandal became as big as it is.
Perhaps schools should teach decency, ethics and morality in elementary school classes because it appears that those values are not being touched upon in many homes.
27
@JaneK Yes, but you can't teach decency, ethics and morality as if they were mere skills, like multiplication, or facts, like the dates of the Civil War. They must permeate the environment. Although I am an atheist, I must point out that this is what parochial schools and religious instruction have generally tried to do. One may argue with the specifics of the ethics and morality a particular religion teaches, and/or the supernatural bases of same.
And schools can't do everything. We now expect schools to serve meals, occupy kids after class, provide sex ed and counseling and basically act entirely in loco parentis. But if a child doesn't learn values in the home from parental role models, a school can't instill them. And especially a teacher can't counteract the poisonous influence of peers who also don't have an ethical/moral compass.
20
@JaneK I have to agree- I think all the readers who claim that reporting the cheating is a simple and obvious choice have no idea how pervasive cheating is. By the end of high school, my kid had very few friends whom she fully trusted and respected- she watched many, many kids compromise themselves just to stay afloat (or ahead) in a hyper-competitive, grade-focused environment where parents and administrators were all to busy (or distracted, self-absorbed, competitive themselves) to see what was right under their noses. It’s not necessarily the kids, it comes from values learned (or not) at home.
1
I had (yes, now a 'had') call me once and ask me to help her son with a school assignment by editing his work. I agreed. The piece he had written was terrible and I told the friend I would like to review the piece with her son, making my edit a teaching experience. "You don't have to do that, just make the changes," she replied. I did but didn't feel good about it. A few weeks later she called again with another editing request. This time she informed me he would be providing a few 'points' that, in writing the piece, I should include to 'personalize' the work for him. Again, I did it but I realized that, at the expense of the friendship, I had to refuse going forward and I did. With that refusal I never heard from that 'friend' again. I am sad to have lost this friend but...
17
@Jimmy
You’re sad to have lost a user?
9
@Jimmy
You did not lose a friend, Sir. That was no friend at all. They were exploiting you and perhaps only ever got friendly with you in the first place because they found you were potentially "useful" down the line.
13
You’re kidding about the exploited nanny, right? How else are we as a society to stop this kind of exploitation than reporting it to the authorities? Your assumption that she’d be better off in an exploitative situation than back at home is just wrong. Shameful!!!
33
@Mary A Except it's true.
How many people is the nanny supporting back home? What will they do once she loses her income? What will happen to her and her family if her employer has power to block them from employment and housing and school in retaliation?
The consequences our actions may trigger for other individuals are very important ethical considerations when we're making decisions. Acknowledging this in a column on ETHICS seems completely appropriate and not at all "shameful."
24
Reading comprehension.
No, diplomatic immunity changes everything. They’ll just send her back in a diplomatic pouch.
12
Letter #2: report situation to the US Consular section of the nanny's home country--her complete name and employer's complete name. Eventually, she will have to come home to renew visa. Or employers will request a visa for another domestic employee (when this one disappears in the US). If their name and history is on record, their future visa requests can be denied. If the situation is egregious enough and the nanny might be in actual danger, report it to the police. A couple of questions from the visa officer quickly revealed that the employer did not live up to the terms of the contract.
23
Give the nanny a few thousand dollars and help her move to a different state where she can find work and live respectably. Help her escape!
6
@D Sounds great except that the nanny wouldn't be able to just move to a different state if she's on an A-3 visa. What sounds easy to a letter writer can be extremely hard in practice. How about consulting with a lawyer on behalf of the nanny -- IF the nanny wants help.
18
@D So your advice is to force the nanny underground to live and work in the United States without legal status or authorization, risking deportation at any time, rather than encouraging her to exercise her rights under U.S. law to fair pay and treatment?
11
@RL My thoughts EXACTLY. This is an actual ETHICS answer? So, simply brush aside legal contracts/rights of others, so to allow the abuses to at the hand of those in power to
continue. Because, eh, the country she came from is probably worse. What sense does that make? Lord above - sounds like Trump-sense.
2
Wrong doing must be called out immediately no matter what it is.
If your hand is in the cookie jar and "your caught" it will be a lesson learned for life.
7
When I was in 5th grade, a classmate was reading his report on sinuses or something out loud to the class. I thought it sounded familiar and had my health book open and found the passage he's copied, and pointed it out and we all read along. I think the teacher saw us all doing something and came over and I pointed to the words in my book as he was saying them to the class. Busted. I still remember the part that confirmed it wasn't a coincidence when he said, "place your finger over the other nostril and blow gently." Gently was not a word in this kid's vocabulary.
27
I think it is particularly important in today's world where Trump is all lies all the time and gets elected President in spite of his very soiled character that the cheating be made known to the teacher. The daughter can report the plagiarism anonymously, but why? Part of her growing up is to learn to do the right thing and live with it. The cheater may well learn a life lesson, or at least the school will be alerted that she has a problem and could use a couple of sessions with a counselor. She's the one with the real problem here.
20
Cheating is an offense in more ways than one.
It must be reported -- both for the plagiarist's own good and for the sake of her classmates.
If the readers of The New York Times were my students, I would explain why this is so. But since they are adults, the answer should be obvious.
15
Wow, two upper-middle class women with two much time on their hands; this week.
1) Stop helicoptering your children and let them figure out how to handle their own lives.
2) If you think a crime is being committed, then call the police. Spreading gossip about what one nanny says to another, and then to you, is simply that, gossip. 2/3 of what's on NextDoor is sanctimonious concern trolls ratting out each others nanny's at the playground.
Both of you need to find a more productive use of your time.
14
@Charlie
Wow. A man who doesn't have a clue about parenting.
27
@Rea Tarr
So that's what it comes down w/ the over-privileged, upper middle class, stay at home Mom set: I am a man, so therefore I know nothing about rearing children and running a staffed household.
Guess again.
8
@Rea Tarr
I think he was a little harsh but I do think in the first instance, it needs to be pointed out that parents can't make ethical decisions for their children; they have to make them for themselves. (We're talking about a high schooler.)
6
I get that this is an ethics column but it fails to provide obvious practical advice for writer #2. Through her nanny, she should first inquire about whether the exploited nanny WANTS help - this woman is an adult, not a child. If she does want help, the writer can use her position of privilege and language fluency to seek out pro bono or NGO legal advice for the woman. This isn't an issue she has to "solve" on her own.
105
The plagiarizing poet reminds me of philosophical discussions of "a level playing field." The level playing field exists in the abstract only. At school or at work, in sports or in business, an individual competes and/or cooperates with others who are more gifted or less gifted, who have more resources or not as many, who are better looking or not, who work harder or are more lazy, who are inspired or are demotivated, etc. In this instance, as in the rest of life, some are more honest than others. Apart from punishing egregious abuses, attempts to "level the playing field" do not have beneficial results: It is always un-level, and learning to operate in the real world of un-levelness is much more valuable than efforts to arrange a smooth path for oneself.
Additionally, the cheater hurts himself much more than he hurts the system. The system is resilient--it can handle the normal amount of dishonesty--as long as it is not constantly tweaked and prodded to conform to abstract notions of absolute fairness.
I think the parent would best tell the child, "Yes, there are cheaters in the world. You will encounter them all your life. Their greatest danger is their tendency to stir your anger, leading you to self-righteousness and distracting you from your goals. Learn to let them sabotage themselves while you concentrate on your own goals and your own honesty." In other words, mind your own business.
13
@William Romp
And, if you ever see someone mugging a defenseless citizen -- or kicking a puppy -- just go on about your business and don't let their deaths distract you ... etc.
26
@William Romp
Wow: "...the cheater hurts himself much more than he hurts the system. The system is resilient..."
Both points are patently false on their face. Cheaters often climb to the heights and gain unearned power and responsibility; those who suffer on that account (at the hands of unqualified medical school graduates, for example) have little recourse or compensation for the harm these fakers do.
As to the system being "resilient," pressures on it like you suggest are no big deal actually strain, warp and distort the system, again causing distress to the innocent victims and underlings of these unqualified sociopaths. Cheaters appropriate and occupy unearned positions while sucking up income they do not deserve. That's not a "ho-hum."
6
Well, here is a dark, different perspective on cheating.
I routinely copied homework when in High School, and in College. I had no choice in high school, as I had to work 37 hours a week in a grocery store, my family was low income, if my homework didn't get done in study hall on Friday, it didn't get done.
My family was a horror story.
Just saying, a little compassion and taking the time to help the person might be the best way. The pressures on children can be unbelievable. I wasn't cheating, I was surviving.
My mother's alcoholism and PTSD led to her suicide, and my cheating in high school led to problems for me in college. Still, it was a very strong indicator of a lost and desperate kid. Look behind the behavior and see the person, you might be able to help.
Just sayin'.
Hugh
51
@Hugh Massengill
Whenever someone says "I don't have a choice" what they are really saying is "I don't like the outcome of any of the choices available".
You did have a choice - cheat or not get your homework done. You made a choice, had to deal with the consequences later on and apparently recovered from the damage you did to yourself. You're advice to reach out to the plagiarizing youngster is admirable, it's foundation in your own chaotic experience.
We often must make unsavory choices but we they are our choices. People need to drop the "didn't have a choice" justification.
16
At the independent school where my wife teaches, failure to report a cheater is itself an honor code violation and could result in expulsion. This has the effect of eliminating the social pressures not to report. It also provides greater moral clarity than The Ethicist offers.
82
"I want my daughter to take a stand" - for me the biggest problem is the mother stage managing her daughter's actions and indeed her stance in this matter. It obviously isn't good this fellow student cheated, but it is really up to the daughter to decide what, if anything, to do about it. Step back, Mom - this isn't your fight.
23
As for the plagiarist, for a change, I agree in part with the ethicist, that a group of students should sign a letter identifying the poem as having been the work of a previous student, attaching a copy of the poem. The offense is so serious as to warrant dismissal from the arts school.
As for who has been collateral damage is a minor issue. We cannot know all the damages. Certainly, the author should be contacted by the school so she can learn that this crime has been committed against her. If she has been complicit, perhaps she will think twice about selling her work again, but this complicity is not likely. The poem was likely just purloined.
3
I suggest reviewing the codes of conduct for the schools involved. The schools’ academic dishonesty policies may call for any student who is aware of cheating to report it, meaning that our protagonist would actually be violating the school’s code of conduct by not reporting.
I can imagine myself in the cheaters’ shoes. I was always a high-performing student, and once you’ve been identified in this way, there’s a lot of pressure to meet expectations. The student might be resorting to cheating due to fear of being exposed as a simply ordinary writer.
I myself was caught cheating in high school, and it was one of the best and most important things that has ever happened to me. I was so ashamed and I never did it again, which meant that I did not do anything stupid (academically) in college or grad school, and can take full credit for all of my academic accomplishments. There’s another good reason to report.
15
The idea of the tattle tail is a pernicious misapplication of the values of loyalty and trust. Cheating is now a major problem in colleges and universities with the internet offering essay factories in every discipline. This child needs to learn it can be spotted and it matters, or they may end up in serious trouble. And teaching children to keep quiet about others' misdemeanours is the beginning of the adult who is complicit in their employers malfeasance. What is important is that whoever takes the cheater to task should do so carefully. Or simply keep a good look out for further examples. Regarding a plagiarised poem being a bad sample, I assume she means that it would be wrong to include it in any marked assignment as it would skue the total in the wrong direction.
14
The Latin root of plagiarism is plagiarius "kidnapper, seducer, plunderer, one who kidnaps the child or slave of another." A plagiarist is stealing someone's ideas, their brain-child, as it were. Stealing a car doesn't make it yours, stealing a car and repainting it still doesn't make it yours.
The student can privately give her teacher the evidence that the poem isn't the work of the fellow student, and the teacher can take the next steps without further involving the student.
The school might take steps in the future to scan and save written work and use an anti-plagiarism identification program.
9
I find it interesting, that currently, most of the comments are about plagierism. I guess the plight of the nanny doesn't stir people.
12
I am surprised as well.
6
@Mary A and David I find comments about lack of comments, without adding to the discussion, amusing. Be the change.
3
@David Tagliaferri Actually the focus may be on the plagiarist because that issue doesn't involve complex legal matters and is a more straightforward question of values. And consider that efforts to 'help' the nanny may actually make things worse for her.
19
Ah, the culture of silence and MYOB.
It was wrong in Dear Abby's day, when it was popular. Today, it's still wrong.
23
Plagiarism: give a copy of the original poem AND the cheaters poem to the teacher(s). Done.
Nanny : Talk to this Nanny, when she is visiting yours. Get the whole story. And while you're at it, slip her some cash. Consider it an investment, in international relations. Get more info, to consider your realistic options. I commend your concern for her welfare, and don't give up.
Please update us.
12
Sure, don't report the cheating because it may cost you. And while you are at it, don't report someone who commits a murder because your peer group might not approve...
18
Comments here about honor codes, many of which require reporting, are irrelevant unless the schools in question require students to adhere to such codes. The daughter needs to confront her colleague and make clear that if there is another instance, she will be reported. If she can forge an alliance with some of the other students, so much the better. Education should be about learning and some lessons are much harder than others.
4
Many years ago I read a story in which a character is confronted by a difficult moral choice. After pondering, he comes to a realization that the decision is really easy: in any moral dilemma, the thing you least want to do is the one you should do.
20
Regarding the nanny: if you want to help the exploited nanny, you should ask her how! Perhaps your own nanny is willing to liaise between you.
The exploited nanny is the expert of her own situation: she can tell you her risk tolerance, the interpersonal nuance of her situation, and desired outcomes. She's the only party with meaningful insight into what will actually improve her situation, and what well-meaning efforts could make things worse. The nanny isn't a lawyer, and she might need external support in knowing the full extent of the rights and protections available to her, but she knows better than anyone what she WANTS.
PBB also has great recommendations for organizations that can help.
43
I don't think training our sons and daughters to be tattle tails, running to authority to tell in her classmates is a good foundation to build.
That's more than half the problem in this country, people want to control and be a part of everybody else's actions, if we stay to ourselves and out of other peoples business, life would be a lot easier
6
@There "tattle tale"? A tattle tale is about things like Jimmy said a bad word or Mary stuck her tongue out at me. The student in question is misrepresenting other's work as his own and cheating on tests. These are major ethical problems and have a certain amount of negative effect on others. Teaching a child to recognize the difference between "tattling" and reporting serious problems is a part of parenting.
54
@There: More than half of the problem in this country is that people are no longer expected to tell the truth about anything. Character has stopped being important. Those of us who disagree, who believe character is important and who strive to live our lives with integrity even when it's not popular, can only right the ship by calling out the liars one at a time as we encounter them. There's still a chance to change the character of this child, the cheater, now, while he/she is still young, and it should be done. Besides, every school I'm aware of has an honor code that actually requires students to report cheaters. So this is a character-building opportunity for the writer's child as well.
58
Couldn't the writer of the second question let the nanny who is being exploited know that she would be willing to help her if she wants to take action? She could look for an organization that might be able to give support and propose a course of action to the nanny. It seems to me that the person who will be affected by her actions might have an opinion on whether or not she should intervene.
I'm also interested to note that the majority of comments here are regarding the first question. I would have thought that the exploitation of migrant domestic workers was a more pressing issue than plagiarism in highschool.
67
@Samantha J - That's probably because the first question is much easier to solve. Thinking about the second question brings out all the weight of the world and its inequalities.
14
@Samantha J
Agree 100%. The nanny is being abused by her employer. The bystander can at least give the nanny some support, as one might for the victim of any abuse. The LW could send her a message to make sure she knows the law and the ways it is being broken; ask if she wants to take any action; and let her know the ways the LW could support her if she did take any action.
3
Howard G is wrong. Most academic honor codes make it clear that LW1's daughter's duty to inform the teacher of such plagiarism is as clear as her own duty not to steal the work of others. Plagiarism is theft and it sounds like the school (especially given that this is an arts school) needs to do a better job at explaining this. The parent could help by asking the teacher or the director of the school to explain their plagiarism codes and review how they not only teach this to their students but also help their students negotiate their own relationship to the art and intellectual work of others.
36
In NYC, there are organizations like National Domestic Workers Alliance or Damayan that can evaluate whether the exploited nanny might qualify for a T visa as a victim of trafficking, and legal services agencies and shelters for people who escape trafficking- check out Restore NYC for shelter, Womankind or Safe Horizon for legal support and social workers. There are a lot of resources the household nanny can pass along to her friend. People are able to leave situations like this and stay in the US legally. Saying her visa is likely tied to her employer doesn’t mean she’s beyond help.
150
Regarding letter # 1 -
"I think my daughter has an obligation to stop the cheating by informing the teacher..."
Actually - your daughter - (along with her so-called "friends" who urge her to "rat" on the cheater) - have an ethical obligation to be honest, truthful - and not cheat on their own projects -
The cheater may be getting away with it now - but eventually one of her teachers or advisers will discover her scheme and pull the rug out from under her --
It's unfortunate that every week we see letters from people wanting to point out the mote in someone else's eye - rather than being concerned with the mote in their own eye...
13
What kind of school is it when the students are more knowledgeable than the teacher? Certainly the teacher should have noticed the plagiarism. Your daughter should spend all her time in the real school, and avoid the future Betsy DeVoses and Trump Juniors in the fancy schmancy snowflake school. Your daughter is learning the wrong things in that rarefied atmosphere.
10
@vandalfan The letter doesn't tell us how the daughter happens to know of the plagiarized work. If the other student wrote the poem for another class and another teacher, there's no reason this teacher should know of it. If a student tries to pass off 'Ozymandias' as an original composition, then yes, it's reasonable to expect the teacher to recognize it. But not an unpublished student work.
4
Oh, you poor ACW, thinking that today's young English teachers have read "Ozymandias." You would be surprised by what they do not know.
7
Yes, someone should bust the plagiarizer. But how hard is it to slip the teacher a copy of the source?
The parent should make sure they aren’t seeking a bit of an ego boost from having their kid be the one soul brave enough to risk the social repercussions of fighting for truth and righteousness. It’s not your neck being stuck out.
27
Regarding the nanny:
This sounds like a textbook example of human trafficking. Diplomats are not exempt from following the law. Saying nothing is not an option here, and the Ethicist ought to know better.
The letter writer should make an anonymous complaint to local police and to a local human rights/immigrants' rights organization. They will protect the nanny and go after the diplomat.
97
@wikibobo
There have been publicized instances of in home workers -- sometimes in homes of diplomats - but also in the homes, usually, of wealthy people from the exploited worker's home country, who are treated as slaves.
The problem with the approach of the ethicist here is that it provides an out for anyone who has knowledge of exploitation to argue that the possibility of negative results from intervention mean no action should be taken.
I'd compare this to child abuse reporting: often the consequences are not ideal. Does that mean it is better not to report and investigate? ( and By the way, sometimes the workers are underage, to boot, meaning that they are subject to investigation for child maltreatment)
The neighbor is not in a position to investigate. Someone must. Others have suggested organizations to provide help; definitely bring in a rights organization, and probably, the police.
This is also a crime.
36
there are also T visas available for victims of trafficking who agree to speak out against the traffickers
24
I think mom needs to back off from demanding that her daughter speak up about the plagiarism. I believe the mother is putting her relationship with her daughter at risk. Have an open and honest talk with your daughter but recognize it is her decision to make and her decision to live with.
28
@justme Why do you think the letter writer is a mom? Is the gender of the parent specified?
8
My mistake to assume it is the mother. Just saying before that becomes the issue.
5
@Melpo Please see my comment. I made an assumption and own up to it.
3
The first writer should show his daughter the West Point code of conduct which states "A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do" There are far worse codes to live one's life by.
25
You might want to ask what was the cause of the plagiarist's copying?
I remember at some points in school feeling so confused and overwhelmed at tasks that looked simple to all the other kids and so embarrassed and inadequate by that feeling and so humiliated that I couldn't even ask for help or risk exposing myself as that I concluded that I was just a loathsome, terrible, stupid, unworthy wretch, that my teachers and parents would hate and all of the other children would mock and disrespect if any of them knew how terribly incompetent I was. In that context, copying someone else’s work would have seemed pretty attractive.
We might want to think through the pressure that we put on kids before we start wagging our fingers too much.
14
Ah, the pressures of going to school . . . .
Always the excuse.
An unpleasant incident in my school: A student submitted the same creative piece she'd written in tenth grade to her eleventh-grade teacher. (But with the tenth-grade teacher's corrections.)
The tenth-grade teacher kept notes in grade books on all student writing but didn't xerox any except in extreme cases, and so the eleventh-grade teacher could not -- would not? -- accuse the student of cheating even though she recognized the assignment from the curriculum. Teacher and student did speak about the writing, but student stonewalled.
The student got away with it.
I wonder if she was proud of herself.
4
@B.
I think I am speaking about something different than you are. There are, of course, lazy and inherently dishonest children out there and the solution may very much be to apply harsh discipline to get them to what they should.
There are also overwhelmed and terrified children without the skills to meet the basic expectations or the confidence to ask for desperately needed help. There are some children that may turn to plagiarism to avoid having to read something in front of the class because of the fear that it would expose their deeply felt feelings of stupidity and inadequacy and self-loathing to everyone.
In that situation, would a fellow student tattling on them hoping that the teacher will bring down the hammer a good thing? Is it kind? Is it ethical?
Maybe we take a step back and ask what the point of the assignment was in the first place, what's the purpose of ranking students through grades, why do structure schoolwork like this in the first place, what do we do if the work is not meeting the educational needs?
Schoolhouse rules and educational curricula are established to service children, not the other way around. While it is always tempting to elevate rules over the needs of others (especially rules that you are expected to adhere to) we need to be able to once in a while look at the forest for the trees and ask ourselves if the rule is more important than needs of the child or the needs of the child more important than the rule.
3
I'm ashamed to admit this, but I will- I'm a 65 year old practicing lawyer, who is respected by clients and colleagues, responsible and ethical beyond reproach. In grammar school I plagiarized a poem. Got called out on it. LEARNED MY LESSON EARLY. They'd be doing this kid a favor. Life has consequences.
215
Same exact thing happened to me. I recently wrote a thank-you note to the teacher who busted me.
31
@Linda Maryanov
What a gift - in one short paragraph you summed up the lesson, and the reason it matters.
36
@Linda Maryanov when I was in 4th grade we were given an assignment to look up something in an encyclopedia. I did - then copied the encyclopedia article word for word. I showed "my" work to my Dad, a college professor, and he immediately gave me a lesson in plagiarism. He also showed me how to do research and write what I had learned in my own words. He taught me a word and a lesson I've never forgotten. I'm now 76, and a professor.
P.S.: Students don't realize that these days it is as easy for professors to find the source of plagiarized work as it is for them to find something to plagiarize. And, there are easy to spot clues that reveal plagiarism.
21
When I went to school, back in the 60's, honor code violations were cause for suspension or eventually expulsion. In every University I've attended, it was grounds for expulsion, which is why it was usually handled quietly and within the department. In academics, this is the offense most likely to require a death penalty. It threatens the very foundations of academia.
I would quietly report it to the teacher or professor.
47
Of course the cheater should be stopped. However, we should also weight the responsibility to inform the teacher against the social cost to the student who informs the teacher. It's not right, but the daughter will have consequences. My son is in high school and students who alert teachers to cheating are ostracized, barred from parties and other activities. Where does the daughter's responsibility balance against the cost to her? Where is the teacher's responsibility to recognize cheating? Should the daughter be involved or is this between the teaching staff and their students? It's a complex situation and I really don't know what I would advice my own child to do, so I'm curious to read more comments.
21
@AllAtOnce ' Where is the teacher's responsibility to recognize cheating?' This was a poem by a former student, not 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?' It's entirely possible for the teacher to be unacquainted with the poem. (The query doesn't state how the daughter comes to know the poem; perhaps she and the real author were friends or classmates.)
FWIW, Tobias Wolff's excellent novel 'Old School', set in a boarding school in the early 1960s, has just such a situation as a major plot point, that is, a character plagiarizing the excellent work of another student. (One of the best novels ever about literature and writing.)
24
@AllAtOnce
Maybe you don't mean to say this, but what I read in your comment is that standing up for what is right should be weighed against short-term social pressures that reward looking the other way.
I get that these are teenagers whose principles are still developing. But what lesson is *more* important than the idea that just societies exist only when people do the right thing when it is hard and requires sacrifice.
If we can't teach young people to see difficult acts of righteousness in this larger context, then we fail them in our own responsibility to pass on what it takes to create a civil, just society.
52
@ACW really good points. I don't have any answers - just trying to think it through from all angles. There's obviously no way a teacher can know everything, especially regarding unpublished works. I am a former college writing lecturer and could sometimes identify skill level inconsistencies that led me to investigate further. This did lead to uncovering plagiarism in a few instances. Obviously, this is inconsistent and could only apply to published works.
7
It may actually do the cheater a favor by having her caught now, in high school. It may not exactly "cure" her of her cheating, but it can demonstrate that sometimes she will get caught and there will be consequences. Better to learn that for the first time in high school rather than the first time being in college or the work place or by the IRS.
93
@Itsy Yes, high school is the time to get caught for cheating. Getting a zero on an assignment is a small price to pay compared to the consquences one could face later in life. A friend and I once gave in to pure laziness and submitted the same essay to different teachers. We got caught. The resulting terror kept me from attempting anything similar again--I learned my lesson at the right time.
31
'The real reason this young person should be reported is that what he or she has done is wrong.'
Isn't it sad that one has to state this? And shameful we should debate it?
Plagiarism is stealing. As much so as if the other student had snatched that former student's wallet. If anything, it's more heinous -- more like kidnapping someone's brainchild. The Ethicist's analysis cites the wrongs to the community, but it is also a personal wrong to the original creator, and would be even if he or she never found out about it.
As for her peer group: From Sophocles' Antigone to Ibsen's Dr Stockmann, literature offers role models who stood up, alone if need be, for what they thought was right. Granted, it didn't always work out well for them. Young people, especially in our social-media era, tend to value popularity over responsibility, and I'm cynical enough (and with clear enough memories of my own youth) to expect that the other students will side with the plagiarist, if only because they foresee that someday they, too, may want to cheat (if they don't already).
21
@ACW
Of course, of course. But we are not actually debating what is the ethical thing to do here, so much as how a parent should handle basically mentoring a child through handling this. Then it does not appear quite so black and right. We all agree, I suspect, what the girl should do. But the girl didn't write to the ethicist, her mother did.
2
The ethical question is whether or not the plagiarism should be reported. The rather obvious answer is yes. The rest of the answer is just lifestyle advice. Not necessarily bad lifestyle advice, but not really ethics.
87
The under-paid and overworked nanny could be helped in other ways. The writer could sometimes ask to "borrow" that nanny on that nanny's "day off" for "help" in the writer's home. The nanny's employer would then have to admit there is no day off or go ahead and allow the nanny this time away. The writer would then simply give the nanny some time off. The nanny would no longer be isolated, which is part of the problem. The employer relies on the secrecy of the arrangement.
157
@Nurse Kathy Or she could report the employer to the families consulate or embassy. If the offending family were told to straighten up and fly right or else, they might start honoring the terms of the contract.
11
@myfiero
Unfortunately, there are many nations whose embassy or consulate employees would merely make sure the nanny -- or her still-in-country relatives -- ended up punished.
40
@myfiero The employer might be the highest ranking member of the consulate or embassy. If not the highest, the employer, when confronted by the boss, might just fire the nanny and send her back to the home country.
23
“She quietly pointed out to the cheater that she recognized the work. The cheater shrugged.”
Unlike others, the psychopath doesn’t fear being caught lying. These are evil and cunning people, whose risk-taking may propel them to high office; and anyone exposing them should justly fear evil retaliation.
108
And so they shouldn't be called out?
In this case we really don't know all this about the cheater - only that this was a deliberate theft, and that it looks as if cheating has become the norm in the school.
16
@Charlierf
We can't diagnose the cheater's personality on the basis of a shrug. The cheater may come from a home where values are skewed towards success at all costs. It's possible that the cheater hasn't yet had to face repercussions for bad behavior. There's no time like the present. If the whistle blower fears retaliation and is unable to get a group together to report collectively, she can anonymously contact the teacher. Somebody should.
18
@Charlierf Before we condemn this kid to psychopathy, it's important to note that plagiarizing is not seen by younger people the way it is by us "olders". One word: Internet. Many people under 30 think that there's absolutely nothing wrong with copying anything because they see it done online all the time. They believe all information is "free" and it's fine to copy and re-use anyone's creative work without attribution. To them, it's not "cheating" at all, and so they will shrug off any suggestion as to why it is wrong, just as this person did.
I had a friend who taught community college English for 30 years and she was astounded at how this issue evolved during her career. Eventually she had to hand out very detailed and emphatic explanations of what plagiarizing is. And yet many of her students still copied published work verbatim -- not to "cheat" but because they simply couldn't grasp that they were doing anything wrong. To them, it was like suggesting they couldn't use the same language in conversation as other people. It was one of the most frustrating aspects of her work.
15
Plagiarism is wrong!
Taking a stand to hold others accountable is a social duty.
Silence on unacceptable behaviors makes them acceptable and harmful to others.
We must stop this culture of silence that infuses perverted values and lack of ethics.
56
"Writing from the cheater is not a good sample for others to workshop because it is not original and taints the learning opportunities of the other students."
I may be missing something with regard to workshopping the sample, but I would think that if is good enough to plagiarize, it is probably a pretty good sample.
That doesn't mean that what the student is doing is OK (it's not!), just that this particular claim of harm is a bit of a stretch.
14
@John. THere's the issue: The kind of workshop LW1 is probably referring to is one in which the authors, as peers, workshop each other's work. Everyone learns but the expectation is that the author learns about their own work and may or may not revise this work subsequent to the workshop. Since, in this case, the author of the poem in question isn't present and the poem isn't actually available for revision AND the plagiarist is PRETENDING to have been the author, the other students can't learn from the actual author nor can the author learn from them AND the plagiarist can't apply anything they've learned to the development of the poem that they are passing off as their own.
10
She definitely should report the plagiarist and shame the teachers for not recognizing it.
In colleges under honor system, if a student is seen cheating by his classmates on an exam, one of them stands up and says "Someone is cheating".
13
Well, at least theoretically.
12
“She should ... shame the teachers for not recognizing it”??? Are teachers supposed to have photographic memories, even for things they may have never seen?
13
Another week, another time the “Ethicist” only approves doing the right thing about plagiarism if the group says it’s ok and it maintains your social status.
85
@Michael
Philosophical ethics is broad and complex - you sound like a Deontologist.
Kwame may have Normative leanings.
But people who think moral decisions are black and white might want to read a bit of Nietzsche.
Maybe: On the Genealogy of Morality: A Polemic
9
@Michael
Seems to me the Ethicist is suggesting the girl explore the consequences for herself in standing up.
Standing to announce someone is cheating sounds powerful.
9
@Michael They are teenagers.
5
It is always Ok to report this. The sooner Teacher and student address and understand Plagiarism and why it is wrong all will benefit.
71