Our View: Students should be angered by cheating

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. Plagiarism is wrong, cheating is bad and not doing your own work will never pay off. Someone, somewhere, will catch you.

We’re certainly not the first to add our voice against the rise of cheating incidents. And according to recent statistics, we won’t be the last because cheating is becoming more popular.

It’s not just that cheating is getting easier. Copy and paste has never been quicker and the Internet’s vast volume of information (granted not all of it legitimate) is only expanding.

It has to do with the fact students are more comfortable with cheating. So comfortable, in fact, they may not even think it’s wrong or even know when they’re doing it.

Here are some tips: If you read it somewhere else, heard it somewhere else or saw it somewhere else and don’t give proper citation – it’s plagiarism. Using sources that have not been authorized on a test such as notes or a roommate – it’s cheating. Turning in a paper you didn’t write, even if it’s one you’ve purchased – it’s wrong.

Students should be angered by cheating. Not just at those who cheat, but at those who help others cheat or merely stand by and watch it happen.

For those of you have gotten through classes by looking over shoulders or copying large sections of your papers from the Internet … consider this your warning. We’re on to you.