So... that first essay I forgot to write because the teacher mentioned it for 30 seconds the 1st day of class... is on Plagiarism. Of course I'm drawing a blank. He gave no guidelines, just write about plagiarism. Go College!

One of the topics I was thinking of writing about is the adverse effects of plagiarism. I have no clue how to write a entire paragraph about it. The only thing I can think of is - don't do it! Its not your work, your stealing your wasting your education! Say no to drugs! Don't drink and drive! Get that cigarette out of your mouth!

English/essay writing is not my strong point. Amazingly I can not find information on the internet about the effects plagiarism has in the educational community, only ways to spot it.

Would anyone like to share their thoughts on plagiarism?

Another twist you might want to take is on how colleges deal with plagiarism. For example, at the college I work at, our Faculty Senate (the academic arm of the faculty union) developed an "Academic Honesty Statement" outlining what plagiarism is and the penalties for plagiarizing (which are also part of our Academic Code of Conduct for students). Some schools have Board policies on the matter. Some schools support faculty by purchasing subscriptions and licenses for plagiarism detection software, while at other schools, both faculty and students are on their own (faculty to deal with it, and students to figure out what it even is).

Maybe compare different schools' policies on plagiarism and academic honesty. You'll get a lot of info googling for that. (I'm on our faculty senate and spent a bunch of time last month googling for different schools' policies!)

Great idea Kit! Thank you