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Original poster

Is it usual for a teacher to ask whether a child has copied something off the internet?

35 replies

madamehooch · 23/04/2012 17:04

Bit of background. My DD is in Year 7. Creative writing has always been her 'thing'. Throughout primary school, her teachers were always banging on about how good it was. Other forms of writing - not so much. She's a born storyteller.

Now, I know that she is now a small fish in a much bigger pond but I still believe her storywriting skills are pretty good. Her English teacher must think so too because on her last two creative writing assignments, she's asked DD if she's copied them from the internet or from a book and, on the first occasion, insinuated that she 'must' have done so. She's even written this on her work.

DD is pretty blase on the outside about this. Her initial view was that she should feel flattered that the teacher thinks her work is "as good as a book." However, I feel a bit concerned that the teacher hasn't picked up from her previous school assessment that she is good at creative writing, and am also worried that this will ultimately knock DD's enthusiasm for writing by not getting the credit she deserves.

I'm probably being a bit precious about the whole thing but didn't know whether to say something at the next parent's evening?

OP posts:
Original poster
madamehooch · 23/04/2012 20:06

Thanks so much for all your comments.

Her last piece of creative writing was to write a horror story. She based it on her childhood fear of the tooth fairy. I saw her sit at her desk and write it so I know she didn't copy it. I presume the teacher made the comment because she did not see her write the story in class.

I think I'll ask her to bring home her English book so I can see exactly what the teacher has written in it before I go any further.

OP posts:
BeingFluffy · 23/04/2012 18:51

I agree about plagiarism. My children seem to be encouraged to research on the internet to get information to be able to do HW etc but they don't seem to have to make a note of their sources. It would be good for them to do so now, rather than get a shock when they get to Uni.

Kaloobear · 23/04/2012 18:36

Be aware that it's unacceptable to accuse someone of cheating if they haven't been cheating but it's really, really important to accuse someone if they have been, in order to get to the bottom of why, how to prevent it happening again, instil the importance of avoiding plagiarism etc. It sounds like this teacher has jumped the gun a bit and handled it badly but I'd be wary of going in so heavy that teachers end up not being able to address it when it's real (a bollocking from a Head of Department rather than a supportive chat due to pressure from parents for instance-depends now good the HoD is and how well they handle criticism themselves)-in 4 years when she's doing GCSEs you'll be furious if a child in her class cheats and gets away with it.

BeingFluffy · 23/04/2012 18:29

Frankly I would be a bit concerned about this. We had this last year with my DDs maths - the teacher would not believe she had suddenly jumped from a level 6 to 8 (his measurement) over a relatively short period of time. He wrote a note in the book and I emailed him and cc'd the Head of Dept. He backed down immediately and tried to deny everything. He left at the end of the year luckily.
There are kids in her school who are talented at writing like your daughter - they are not accused of cheating but praised and get write ups in the school magazine and the work shown in assembly - if a student does fantastic work the school should praise them not accuse of cheating. I would email the teacher cc'ing the Head of Dept or Year and arrange to speak to the teacher on the phone at the very least; it is unacceptable to be accused of cheating.

cece · 23/04/2012 18:26

I only say something if I know for sure. I usual type in a sentence from the piece and then find the piece they have copied. I then call them over, show them my evidnce, and ask them what they thought they were doing! By this point they are usually quite pale... Grin

thisisyesterday · 23/04/2012 18:25

well, are you SURE that she hasn't?

if you are certain, then i would go and speak to the teacher and say that you really don't appreciate your daughter being accused of plagiarism and if she cannot accept and nurture her talents then perhaps she ought to be moved to a different class

Kaloobear · 23/04/2012 18:22

I have asked pupils this in the past but only when I KNEW they had cheated-I.e. I had googled a line from their work and found it online. It is usually very obvious when a child has copied an essay because they're never very good at making it look like their own style.

There was one occasion I accused an upper sixth boy of plagiarising creative work again because I KNEW he had-I immediately recognised the piece.

I'd never, ever accuse someone without knowing for sure, and I'd never write it on their work without talking to them first. It sounds like your DD's teacher either knows she's cheated (which sounds very unlikely!) or is not very good at dealing with talented pupils/a bit of a cynical person! I wouldn't be impressed with her if I were you.

xmyboys · 23/04/2012 18:19

Ask her to get DD to write a piece during class one day. She can then see the quality of her own work.
And should then apologise Blush

webwiz · 23/04/2012 18:16

I think I would be concerned that the teacher has effectively written on your DD's work that she has cheated and I wouldn't wait till parents evening to query it. I would phone/email the teacher and ask about it.

Have they only moved onto creative writing recently? I presume she has had this teacher since september so she should have a better idea of your DD's usual standard of work.

thirdhill · 23/04/2012 17:16

In the old days, it was "Did you write this yourself?"

I think the important thing is that your DD is never put off by insensitive remarks and learns to brush them off without a second thought. That's not being precious, it's avoiding her dumbing down to fit in.

Hard to tell what the teacher is thinking, whether it's genuine surprise [clumsy way of asking] or of lower calibre than you'd like [little you can do about that but teach DD to manage the time while in her class, which hopefully is not for long]. Maybe that will become more obvious at parent's evening? Changing others' behaviours is a limited option, so I'd go for supporting my DC if it were me.