One of the school divisions in our province is trying something "new". Instead of disciplining kids for plagiarizing, it's okay. It will now be documented on their new behaviour report card.
Their what?
Behaviour report card? For high school students?
So, if in 15 years, Simon copy and pastes an entire section of a report from who knows what website and hands it in, he will not lose marks? Instead we, his parents will read that he made this choice on his behaviour report card?
I teach high school. I know kids cheat. I catch them. Then, we have a long chat with their parent(s). Then, the kid redoes his/her assignment with a small mark penalty. Their mark sits as incomplete (ie:0%) until it is redone to the required specifications.
I actually spend 2-3 days with students going over how to properly research, cite and document where they found their info. This is good teaching. I tell them that I will be vigilant about watching for cheaters. If they research and record their sources properly, they won't have any problems. Most don't. I end up having one or two conversations and that's it. I set high expectations and kids meet them.
As a society, we need to do the same. We need to teach our kids to value good work ethic, to respect other people's work and to give credit where credit is due. Isn't that what we want from our future leaders?
To read more about this division's decision, check out this article:
Article about plagiarizing for you to peruse at your leisure
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3 comments:
That's ridiculous!
I have some friends that teach elementary school. This year the school board has told them that they are no longer allowed to fail kids or recommend they are held back even. The only way a child will repeat a grade is if the parent asks for it to happen. yikes.
Wow. That is STUPID. I'm sad for our "education" system. We need to RAISE standards, not lower them. We're setting our kids up for failure if we tell them that plagiarism is okay. What's next?
It is a sign of the times, unfortunatly. Parents are raising their kids without concequences to their behavior,a result of the "no spanking style" of parenting that is happening right now, in my opinion.
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