Morality Dilemma #5: The Plagiarized Report You are an English teacher at a high school. One of your pupils is a very bright and
gifted girl, whom you have always enjoyed teaching. She has always achieved A grades throughout her school years, and is now in her final year and getting ready to graduate. Unfortunately she has been very ill this term, and missed several weeks of schooling. She has just turned in a report which is worth 40% of her final grade, but you realize that she did not write it herself – she has copied a report found online and tried to pass it off as her own work. If you report her plagiarized work to the school authorities it will be entered on her permanent record and she will no longer be eligible to attend the prestigious university that she has dreamed of attending all through high school. If you refuse to accept the report, her final mark will be very poor and may harm her chances of being chosen for this university. If you mark the paper as though you believed it was her own work, she will do very well, and stand every chance of getting her desired university place. What should someone do in this situation? Claim: Evidence: Explanation: Do you think this decision would make a person truly happy? Truly free? Why or why not?
If I was the teacher, I would take into account the girl's previous achievements. This girl..."a very bright and gifted girl, whom you enjoyed teaching." If that's the case, then reporting her would affect her permanent school record, and dimmen her chances of getting into that prestigious university she'd always dreamt of attending. A teacher always looks to the best interests of his/her students, so refusing to accept her work is also out of the question; because every teacher must genuinely care about the future of his/her pupils. But teachers also must be honest and sincere in their work, meaning: to pretend to believe that the essay is her work, whilst knowing it is'nt...puts your OWN career in danger. I would, email my student and talk to her about what she did. Not in a dangerous, you're-in-trouble, email, but a soft understanding email, stating how you care about where she ends up, and how you want her to make the right decision to get to the right place. So contact her, and try to reach out to her. Often, people in tight spots resort to the wrong choice to accomplish something they've always wanted to do. Be soft. Understanding...don't scare her away...
