Earlier today I mentioned that I attended a business luncheon where the speaker talked about business ethics and his personal experiences. One of the things he mentioned was how easy it is for unethical people to rationalize their actions and how often they aren’t confronted about their behavior.
During the Q&A portion at the end, a local attorney asked a question – seems the local bar association recently held an essay contest for high school students on the topic of “Ethics”. They feel they have proof that one student plagiarized part of his/her essay so that student didn’t win but nothing else was done – the question was asked if something should have been done. Well DUH!
Here’s how I read this case – a group of attorneys (who many people would believe have questionable ethics in some instances) can’t decide what to do about blatant plagiarism. How about talking to the student about it – discussing with the parents – letting the student (and parents) know that the world has zero tolerance for cheats and thieves. As Barney Fife would say “nip it in the bud!” They have the perfect opportunity to teach this student a valuable lesson in life and perhaps give him/her one of the greatest favors ever, even if it’s years before the student realizes it. Instead, they are ready to remain silent, allow the student to think they just didn’t write an award-winning essay and the end result may be that the student blames the original author and next time just looks for better stuff to cop off the internet or whatever source they use for material. Nowhere in this scenario is the student held to a high ethical standard – pretty ironic for a contest that centered on ethics, isn’t it?
