[ OT ] Someone stole my story

I think when people plagiarize to pass a high school class and get away with it, it undermines the integrity of the diploma granted by that high school, which ultimately hurts all high school graduates everywhere. However, I work in education and can tell you from experience that the system is so full of holes it's not even funny. There is no way we can fix the problem of granting degrees to students who have n't earned them by punishing students more harshly until after we as educators have gotten our own house in order. That means no more giving kids an unearned C+ due to pressure from the athletics department, and no more helping students cheat on standardized tests just to prop up school or district scores. 
 
 Setting all that aside for a moment, I think the next most important issue is that this student is not getting a good education in creative writing because he is not doing the work. 
 
 I would encourage the teacher and the student to sit down together and talk about why the student did not want to write their own story. Was the prompt dull or uninteresting? Are the student's writing skills not up to scratch? Is the student being teased about their writing by other kids in class? Is the student having other problems at home that are distracting them from their work? 
 
 I think your choice not to go out for blood here is probably going to contribute to a relaxed atmosphere during that student-teacher counseling session, which may help uncover the reasons behind this student's choices. 
 
 

