Plagiarism

I have always been a writer, a lover of words, and putting thoughts and emotions into sentences the reader can laugh at and cry with. As a youngster, about 12, I used to have a diary I wrote in daily, that was kept locked in my dresser.

My sister picked the lock one day, my mother read my diary, then my father shared it at the dinner table. I stopped writing that day. I stopped sharing any of my feelings anywhere. I clammed up and refused to let anyone see who I was. The humiliation of that experience taught me that there was no such thing as privacy, or respect.

In school, English was my favourite subject and I excelled at it. I loved all aspects of it. About three years later, we had a substitute teacher for several months near the end of the school term. One of our assignments had been to write a poem. By this time, although I didn't write anything 'personal' down anywhere, I would write poetry in my head.

When the assignment was first issued, I'd written a poem in my head, and promptly forgot about it. When the assignment was due, the substitute gave us that hour to finish up, or in my case, write the poem. I recalled how I'd already written it in my mind, and quickly jotted it down, making a few word changes once it was in print.

A week later, the substitute sat on a desk and told us our marks on our poems, starting at the bottom and working towards the top. I was the last one he addressed. He advised me that he had given me an A minus. I just looked at him, thinking, okay. At this time, I was extremely shy, blushed and embarrassed easily, and tried my best not to draw attention to myself.

He went on to ask me if I knew what plagiarism was? Of course I knew! My face turned bright red at the humiliation and accusation, and he said he didn't believe I wrote it. I said, but you saw me write it during class! His response was I could have memorized it and copied it down. I just shook my head, everyone in class looking at me like I'd lied and cheated.

I refused to hand another thing in to that teacher. I suppose, in essence that confirmed his suspicions but I didn't care at that time. At the end of the year, he told me I'd have to write the finals because I didn't hand anything in, and I was going to fail. By this time, I had become the class clown and didn't care about anything at school, and yep, there's a reason for hating authority.

I advised the substitute that no, I would not fail and I'd pass the exam with flying colours without even studying - which I did. But his attitude affected how I felt about writing, about school and definitely about authority. It wasn't until many years later that I picked up my pen again.

A couple of years ago, someone posted a very touching story about their time in the military. It was exceptionally well written and a tear jerker to boot. It wasn't until someone else posted the original that it was evident that this person had not penned the piece, and rather than put it in quotes to indicate it wasn't his, he let everyone think he'd written it. I was incensed. How dare he?!

He refused to apologize for his plagiarism. I lost any and all respect for him that day forward. It's much easier now to find out if something's plagiarized due to the internet. It's also much easier to plagiarize.

Personally, if anyone ever accuses me of plagiarism again, I'd sue their arse for defamation of character - no holds barred. My parents should have stood up for me and gone to the school and made the substitue publicly apologize to me. Obviously, that didn't happen, and what can you expect from people who break into locked diaries and read others most private thoughts?

So when someone makes that plagiarism accusation, they best be 100% certain that their accusation is accurate. As writers, it's not only insulting, it's offensive.

Private email would clear up any questions. Public accusations, humiliation and shaming is not okay, especially when you're wrong.