It is me again with the last topic of the contemporary ethical issues. I found this topic very relevant to AIU students since many of the students are victims of copying other people work intentionally or unintentionally. Plagiarism, or the unaccredited use of someone else’s work or ideas, has become more and more of a problem in recent times than it was in the past. According to statistics found in a survey conducted by the Free Press, 58% of high school students let someone copy their work in 1969, but by 1989 this number had risen to 97%. It is really hard to imagine how much the figure increase with the introduction of the internet. It is believed that internet made the situation worse and students are now capable of accessing thousands of paper simply through the net. This is a serious problem that must be addressed because many students feel that if they are not getting in trouble for cheating, than it is okay.
It has become apparent that many students who could not finish their assignments by the due dates or those who could not even do it, try to copy from the internet. Most of the students don’t know the consequence that it will have later in their life, hence we need a wakeup call for both the teachers and parent to prevent plagiarism. The simplicity of the Internet has made cheating on assignments much more effortless than in the past, even if students are not directly copying and pasting from Websites, they can also email homework problems and essay questions to every member of the class. Students practise this habit in different types like some of them copy without changing anything while others change some of the words (paraphrasing). This will have huge negative impacts on the students by first reducing their creativity and ability to express themselves freely. Secondly, they are cheating themselves because they are not doing what is required from them to study. This means they are getting fake grades which do not reflect on what they have learnt. Lastly, it harms the person who owned the original text, for example if you write something and others use it with their names, how would you feel?
It is not enough if teachers check plagrism and punish students, but indeed we as students are the ones who can change this and protect plagrims. We should not give our work to our friends and if we see anyone doing plagrims we should warn him/her. And if they are not willing to stop, we should privately inform the our lecturers. Our friends may consider us envious but we are really helping they and they will understand this later in their lives. We should also understand our responsibilities and remind ourselves the consequences of such act. On the other hand, lecturers should take appropriate for anyone found plagrims. It is clear that one of the objectives of our university is to produce excellent graduates and for this reason the university should take serious action towards plagrims to achieve its aims.
In conclusion, the dawn of the technological age has brought many improvements to society as a whole. However, it has also detracted from the morals and ethics of civilization, especially in the university students. While we know it is wrong to copy things from others, it has become so effortless to do so that it is hard to ignore the voice inside that is telling us to take the easy way out. The World Wide Web is a wonderful invention that allows people to share their ideas and feelings across the world or across the street. Families can communicate over long distances more freely than ever, and pertinent information is always at your fingertips. It is important that the members of this society realize that the information posted on the Internet is for reference and enjoyment, not for use without direct permission for the author.
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