Plagiarism is a huge issue in many schools, and here at Ánimo Pat Brown it is becoming a real issue too. Although plenty of people do plagiarize, the main reason they do it is because they are lazy. At the end most people realize it was a big mistake that comes with severe consequences.

The biggest consequence is the fact that when you get caught plagiarizing goes on your record.

In colleges where you’re given a lot of work to do in a limited amount of time, some students decide to plagiarize their work.

When professors figure out that the work is not from the student, the student is automatically expelled from the college and it is put on their record. Two students that had been caught plagiarizing at APB were both in an Honors English class. The girls were “Destiny” and “Clarisa,” who decided to remain anonymous. Destiny let her friend copy her essay. She let her friend Clarisa use her essay and rearrange words and sentences so that the teacher would not notice that it was practically the same essay. Clarisa used the essay and was convinced that she and Destiny would not get caught plagiarizing, but they did get caught.

Later the teacher noticed that Destiny and Clarisa had written the same essay.

The two students received a 60 minute detention with a phone call home and had to sign a contract stating the first, second, and third offense of plagiarism. This also went on both of their records, so when it is time for these two students to apply — or maybe even to transfer schools — it will be shown on their records. APB Vice Principal Kouching Ngu talked about the contract the students had to sign.

The contract stated the first offense, which was a call home, a 60 minute detention, and a written record. The second offense is a 120 minute detention, a parent conference, and school privileges taken away. The third offense is a suspension, school privileges taken away, and a parent, teacher, and administration conference.

At APB, plagiarizing does not lead to any expulsion, but in colleges if a student is caught plagiarizing by any matter it will lead to an automatic expulsion and it will also go on record when they are trying to apply to other colleges.

When parents find out about what their children did, they will be very disappointed at the mistake they made. Disappointment from anyone is not something anyone wants; it creates loss of trust and hope. Destiny, who let her friend Clarisa use her essay, said she did it to help her friend.

“I will never do it again because it was wrong and really affected my grade in a bad way,” Destiny said.

“I did it because I was lazy, and never paid attention to what was happening in the book or in class,” Clarisa said.

She also felt terrible for her friend and was worried about her reputation with teachers and staff. Another problem that she thought about was getting kicked out of Honors English.

One member of APB staff, who asked that to have their name withheld, admitted to have plagiarized when they were in middle school.

When asked why this person did it, they said the only reason they plagiarized was because they were lazy. This staff member said they learned to never do it again because they knew their actions were wrong.

This staff member said that even though everyone makes mistakes, this is something that is not acceptable while preparing for college.

This staff member also stated that it is natural for people to make mistakes such as these, but it is not acceptable to be done a second time.

It is bad enough that the act of plagiarism is wrong and unacceptable in any place whether it is dealing with homework, classwork, essays and more. Plagiarism is about the same thing as cheating; it is using someone else’s work, changed or not, and use it as your own.

Plagiarizing encourages society to become less intelligent and productive due to the easy access in receiving information.

It does not allow people to show the real potential they have to excel, nor does it allow people to fully use their brain and creativity, something that is needed to conduct an essay. Plagiarizing does not benefit the plagiarist in anyway. Plagiarizing will not prepare them for the real world when they have no one to depend on. One should learn to have enough confidence to conduct their own work.