Consequences For Plagiarism At The University Level Creative Writing

There is a movement in society today to educate elementary and secondary students about morals, ethics, integrity, and respect in the school system. Teachers and school administrators argue that there are not enough hours in the day to add courses and concepts such as these to an already overflowing curriculum. They claim that it is not the schools’ responsibility to teach students about such issues. Such duties are the responsibility of the parents or caregivers of the students. That used to be the case. Parents did raise their children most of the time. Almost all children did learn about morals, ethics, integrity, and respect in the home. It was expected and it was done. Somehow, during the past generation or two, too many students have stopped learning these lessons. Too many students are being raised by caregivers instead of parents. Many students do not spend much time with their parents, let alone quality time. The time that is spent together too often does not deep, engaging, intellectual conversation. Often, parents and the adults raising them do not spend much time at all in the same room. So if the schools are not educating the children in these matters, they are not learning about them at home, and the media certainly is not enforcing them, are students finishing high school without realizing what these words even mean, let alone what the reality is behind them.
This being the case, I do believe that students who plagiarize at the university level need to be punished, but there needs to be a system in place to ensure that students are well aware what plagiarism really is. Not something on a computer screen where one can just scroll through it, click agree, and have never actually read what was printed. There needs to be a system in place that during a mandatory session, such as freshmen orientation, or the first day of a mandatory first semester course, where the plagiarism policy is written out, word for word, by hand, and signed by each student, complete with examples. There needs to be a mandatory class, with an exit exam, where students are able to demonstrate that they do, in fact, understand, exactly what it means to plagiarize. Students need to somehow be held accountable be having their papers checked by the computer programs that pick up plagiarism. Students need to be made aware that ruining work from a writing service that is not actually their own has consequences as well. There needs to be information and education in place that is unable to be argued before students can be held accountable. The instructor merely stating that plagiarism is not acceptable is not enough. Too many students do not completely understand all of the aspects of what constitutes a plagiarized paper.
If a student has personal integrity, and pride in one’s work and work ethic, a student would want to do one’s best work before turning in an assignment. One’s name should stand for the principal’s in which one believes, which includes one’s honest behavior. If one is going to put one’s name on a piece of writing as one’s own, it would only be honest to affix a name if it is not plagiarized but an original piece of work.
At the university level there are several options for handling plagiarism. Automatic failure of the course would be the absolute minimum and is not enough for the scope of the infraction. Failure of the course with one year of academic probation while being prohibited from participating in any school activities and the loss of any scholarship would be the bare minimum sentence that should be imposed. A proper punishment would be a one year suspension from the institution. Any further infraction should be expulsion from the school. All should include a mark on the student’s permanent record as to why the disciplinary action was taken.
These punishments are just, but it is necessary to ensure that students are well aware of what entails plagiarism. Too many students think changing one word means a work is not plagiarized. Real education on the subject is something that all students need as soon as they begin their studies. This education is imperative in today’s society.