Plagiarism

First of all, I found all of the different things we had to read interesting but there was one article that stood out. The article I liked was “Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age” by Trip Gabriel. Gabriel discusses a few different types of plagiarism and how it affects students and the people around them. I found it sad how a majority of the students who committed the act of plagiarism knew that they were doing something wrong. The whole reason they did not write in their own words was because they were too lazy. I will admit that it is tempting to take someone else’s words but at the same time you show a lot of character when you write in your own words. It is better to have your own voice and own opinions. Throughout middle school and high school we were nailed with workshops on plagiarism. Due to having the knowledge of what it is and the bad affects it can have on you I simply choose to not plagiarize. Most of the time if I am questionable as to whether or not something should be cited I cite it anyway, just to be safe. If I do happen to plagiarize it is not intentional unlike the students discussed in the article. Lastly, there is only one area of plagiarism that I find to be a bit confusing. To me, it is hard to figure out what is common knowledge and what is not. For this reason, I can easily see how some students could end up plagiarizing and not know it. As stated in the article, it is difficult for students to know what is or is not common knowledge due to how much information is online. The Internet is a great source but can be extremely overwhelming to anyone.  Some of the information online is not cited which makes it easy for anyone to take someone else’s words. All in all, unfortunately the only way I think we can semi put a stop to plagiarism is to raise awareness and talk to students. All students need to realize that their own words are extremely important. If college is supposed to be all about finding yourself then why not try to find yourself through your writing and your own voice?