Effects of Plagiarism to the Students Essay Example for Free

Effects of Plagiarism to the Students Essay In life especially in any learning institutions, it is inevitable to engage oneself with other people’s ideas, stories and researches. Most of people’s knowledge is acquired from previous knowledge that is written and said. But people can also create their own idea from others’ works or through experiences. However, owning one’s thought is another story, it is considered stealing or corruption. Stealing a person is called kidnapping or abduction but stealing a person’s ideas or writing is called plagiarism. Idea is like a property, someone owns it. Plagiarism is against the law not only because it is a form of stealing but because its effects are very destructive to the morality of those who practice it and to the society as a whole. In academic world, plagiarism is a serious offense. Plagiarism is not only a personal matter between a student and a teacher but ultimately it is an issue of violating the moral code of learning, reversing the meaning of education itself (White, 1999). The continuous growth of Information Technology makes it easier for the students to copy and plagiarize. Plagiarism not only threatens the very foundation and purpose of academic system but plagiarism is a destructive activity that terrorizes the students’ sense of morality and values. Education is not only for the purpose of acquiring knowledge and information but education also allows students to discover their skills and intellectual capabilities. Education also trains and gives students opportunity to develop one’s character to become productive members of the society in the future. Committing plagiarism however is a missed opportunity for students’ self discovery, development and academic learning. Moreover, it threatens the sense of integrity and fair play to those who practiced it. When students became accustomed to plagiarism and stealing, it will soon become a way of life until it eventually becomes their comfort zone. There is a big possibility that after graduation, they will stay in that comfort zone. Acting plagiarism also hinders the teachers to truly monitor the learning development of a student, to know their ideas and to asses the things that they still have to work upon. When discovered, an atmosphere of distrust will be established between the class and the teacher. The teacher with skepticism will be having a difficulty identifying which is real and which is plagiarized, doubting student’s skill in writing, which may result to bias assessment. When students commit plagiarism, they reject the chance to learn something new, to widen their horizon in the world of knowledge and they hinder themselves to develop their own opinions, to give alternate perspective and analysis. These things may also affect the communication skills of the students. Since plagiarism hinders them to acquire more wisdom and information, they won’t be able to talk confidently in front of many people because of their limited knowledge. Act of plagiarism also threatens the concept of receiving grades. At the end, there is no sense of satisfaction. Those who practiced plagiarism eventually put their self worth in jeopardy. These effects of plagiarism in the students will affect their lives. Reference: Buranen, Lise. Roy, Alice Myers (1999). â€Å"Student Plagiarism as an Institutional and Social Issue by Edward M. White†. NewYork US. SUNY Press