Everyone has heard it before. Plagiarism is a big no no and there will be serious consequences if you are caught in the midst of being a copycat. But does it ever really stop? Obviously if you are blatantly cheating and copying there is going to be an extreme problem. However, what about the people that unintentionally copy something or phrase a sentence in a way that it seems like it is from elsewhere yet it is that person's own words and thoughts. Plagiarism is one of those things that is so tricky to avoid but, at the same time is so easy to commit. No matter how hard students try to give credit both in the text of a piece of writing and at the end, they still risk being called out on a crime they are unaware that they have committed.
In the age of technology it is no wonder why plagiarism is becoming an even bigger concern as it is easier than ever to just copy and paste something into an essay, social media post, and even music. That's right! Music! Every mashup song that a person has created from multiple artists songs is considered plagiarism if the song is not credited. Even sharing a post on Facebook could be considered plagiarism if the original source is not found. It has truly become that scarily simple that people do not even think about it anymore. Professors at my university even have a thing called safe assign where you must upload a paper to check for plagiarism before handing it in. Whats even more ridiculous is that the website is pointless as it considers things like the date and professor's name plagiarism from another students paper. After talking to older students, I have even found that students just learn how to correctly get away with using other pieces of information subtly to get an assignment done and handed in on time rather than fear the wrath of a consequence that never occurs in the end.
As technology grows more and more each day, I unfortunately do not see plagiarism getting any better. For all the consequences and issues that arise with plagiarism, the people that do it either do not realize or become sneakier when it comes to committing the crime. Despite the many attempts to stop plagiarism it is still a problem and it does need to come to an end. Although it may seem hard as there are so many rules when it comes to how not to plagiarize, it is do-able. Copying some one else's ideas is not worth failing, losing scholarships, and even getting kicked out of school. It may seem like the easy fix but it's a lot easier to not plagiarize than it is to fix a committed crime.
