Students are found guilty of plagiarism every semester at Bakersfield College, yet it seems amazing to students when they are accused of it.

Some professors touch briefly upon the subject of plagiarism within the confines of their class orientations, leaving the issue far behind until grades come back, much to the dismay of students.

A Rutgers University study of high school students in 2000-01 found that 74 percent had cheated or plagiarized, according to a recent Associated Press story.

Since plagiarism is such a widespread problem in high school, many incoming college students don’t know exactly what it is.

Many students have the misconception that plagiarism only occurs if they copy verbatim from the text.

They think it can be avoided with proper rearranging of words here and there, just like they did in high school.

But plagiarism is the borrowing of ideas and claiming them as your own without citing a source. Students get themselves in grade trouble because what may have been accepted before in high school is not accepted here.

In light of these misconceptions, something must be done within BC or even the community college system to teach students how to avoid plagiarism. Mandatory plagiarism classes should be offered at the same unit level as a student development class.

These classes could help students avoid the pitfalls of copying and establish a framework that requires them to develop their own ideas.

Even incorporating plagiarism as a topic with more in-depth emphasis within student development classes would help.

If a class is not possible, teachers should address plagiarism in the first few days of class fully with examples. Time spent outlining what plagiarism means within each class with actual examples would be key to keeping students on track.

Plagiarism should not be a lesson that students learn the hard way.

It’s time for BC teachers to help break bad habits by addressing the problem now.