I got an email this morning from one of the teachers my son has at school. She told me that one of the projects he did is plagiarized and so he won't be receiving credit, nor will she allow him to redo it. She also said the word he used was derogatory and she "knows" he wouldn't use a word like that. The part I am so angry with is I HELPED HIM with his project and it wasn't plagiarized!!!!! He had to write a newspaper article on the Emancipation proclamation and it had to sound authentic. I spent over 6 hours with him reading newspapers online from that time period and we looked over many websites so that he would understand the type of language. Now, the word that he used that she found derogatory was "negro". I talked with him about the other "N" word and why it isn't used and why it should never be used. He found the "N" word in a lot of articles, but decided that even though it was used back then it was too derogatory to use now and so he chose to use negros instead. I sent her back a polite but angry email explaining he did everything himself. We will see if she responds or if I will have to go in and talk to her.
So it had to sound authentic, but then he gets in trouble because it's authentic? Crazy. Sounds like the PC police is on the job! Oh, and ask her if she can find the work he plagarized from. When she can produce the work that he took from, you'll let it go. I would really love to be a fly on the wall if you have to go in and talk to her! Keep us posted, I'd like to know if he gets credit for it or not.
ahhhhh...I love to hate this topic. OMG! In college we were given numerous papers and of course many came back with this result. Here's why. They us a small program and enter your sons report. If even one sentence is like any other sentence on the net...it 'can' be called plagiarized. Problem is, if it's a topic that is centuries old, then there are literally thousands of articles written on the subject. You're almost forced to 'dumb' down the assignment, because the 'big words' will make it show up plagiarized. I cannot tell you how much I HATE this process. My daughter has to check her work on an online plagiarism check site, before she can submit it. She's in her second year of college. Now if it comes back that it sounds like something someone else has written...she has to go through the whole thing and 'dumb' it down, which makes her sound like an idiot. Basically the concept of intelligence has already been copyrighted by somebody else! Very annoying indeed!
Oh wow. Public school at it finest! That is so ridiculous. She probably wasn't sure what he had written so just took the easy way out. I would ask for proof of the plagiarism and if she can't produce, take it to the higher up! Let us know what happens please!!
To be wrongfully accused is so upsetting! I had an experience recently during a contest. I entered my idea, won top prize then was disqualified due to 'plagerism'. I am so upset about it! The company said they would investigate but, really, how are you gonna prove it? I'm sure someone, somewhere has had the same idea. It's not being marketed, that I know. I used my own brainpower to come up with it but to prove it is really hard. I feel for your son. It's so unfair. The teacher asked for authentic and when you use an authentic word, it's offensive?? And its even the more "polite" of the two "authentic" words. Unbelievable.
I was accused of plagerism in high school and, though the teacher offered no proof, to this day my mother doesn't believe me. THAT was the worst part about it. With you at his side, he'll get through this. Btw, MLK, Jr. used the word "negro" in his speeches all the time. If he wasn't offended, neither should this teacher.
I remember a teacher asking me if my paper was copied from someone. I told her no, she did not believe me.. I was given a 98 and my friend (who just so happened to write on the same subject was given a 100). She thought I had just copied and changed a few of her words but I did not... We did not even know that we were writing on the same subject! haha...I was so annoyed but my mom could care less! She knew that I worked hard on it... I even had a cousin (in college at the time) proof read it for me... I wanted a good grade.. I should have gotten a 100 too!!!!
I thought it would be a good idea for all of you to read his short newspaper clip he wrote and be the judge of whether it sounds plagiarized or not. He had to write it from the view point that this proclamation was wrong. The Emancipation Proclamation "That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.” Now that the President Abraham Lincoln has declared slaves to be free, we have had a rush of negros that have fleed to the north and joined the army. The people here are suffering paranoia because the negros outnumber the whites. The whites are worried about their safety. Negros are running their white owners out of their homes and off their plantations. The negros are taking over, which we knew would happen without the slavery laws." Now, that being said, I picked up my son from school today and the teacher was waiting for me. I was a bit apprehensive as to what she was going to say. She came over to the car and apologized for thinking he plagiarized. Apparently she and the other 5th grade teacher questioned him separately about how he came up with the content, and since I sent an email telling how he did the project and both my story and his story matched, she realized she was wrong. She told me he will get full credit and it will be printed in the civil war class newspaper. I am sure she won't make that mistake again since I was pretty clear that I don't allow plagiarism. She is a first year teacher and is in her trial year at the school. She doesn't want a bad mark against her or she might not be able to teach there again.
Okay I am going to applaud that teacher for investigating it further and giving credit where it is due at least. Good job to Mom though cause you stood by your ds!
I'm glad that the teacher had the Where-With-All to ask around and to give him the credit. I would have been super mad if it would have remained a failed grade.
I am glad to hear that it all worked out. I would have been so frustrated with that though. I think you did the right thing in confronting her through email. I am sure that she will not make that mistake again.
I'm glad everything was corrected. I was going to suggest that you give her a history lesson and tell her where the word "negro" originated from. It would seem less offensive if she knew. This is what I know of the history. Spaniards brought many of the slaves over here from Africa. They called them "negro" (pronounced NAY-grow) which is Spanish for the color "black". The word "negro" came to be used in this country, only it was mispronounced. So negro is just the Spanish word for black. FYI. I've taught this little bit of history in public schools and never received any backlash for it. There's nothing offensive about it towards African Americans. It's just history.
