It is ironic that my first experience of seeing my words published under someone else’s name was in the course of writing this very article. After spending a week researching and writing an article on the CHS Girls Who Code chapter, I found it republished, verbatim, on another website.
Four headlines from the Courier have appeared on another website under a different byline. Among those affected was Olivia Holzman, a CHS sophomore and news editor on the Courier..
“Integrity is so necessary in a world that’s becoming more AI-focused, and for any adult to not have integrity and to plagiarize a high school student’s written article– it’s unbelievable,” said Holzman.
Holzman also noted that for journalists, ethics are fundamental. Journalism, at its core, is built on the responsibility to produce original work, credit sources, and respect others’ ideas.
“It’s kind of upsetting because these people have worked so hard. They’ve taken their own time to write an article, and then all of a sudden it gets taken from them, and they don’t get credit for it,” said Sadie Godburn, a freshman.
Typically, in K-12 education, plagiarism is confined to classrooms and easily corrected. However, as the internet and generative artificial intelligence become more accessible, the line between original and unoriginal writing has grown increasingly blurred, and the bar for quality work has dropped significantly.
Universities have begun trying to define and regulate the boundary. New York University, for instance, defines plagiarism as failing to produce original work and properly credit all sources, with failure to do so resulting in consequences as severe as expulsion. The University of Southern California follows suit, with the exception of not mentioning the usage of generative artificial intelligence as part of plagiarism. The university has adopted a more decentralized approach, leaving policies on tools such as AI to individual professors and classes. The variation sparks debate on how plagiarism should be understood in a rapidly changing online landscape.
For teachers, the concern is preparation. By the time students reach levels of higher education, many are not equipped with the tools and knowledge necessary.
“At the college level, your name is everything. If you are a plagiarist, your reputation is under fire, you will not be published, you will not be hired, and people will not want to work with you,” said Calabasas High social studies teacher Brad Boelman. “It’s really like a black mark.”
In fields like writing and research that depend on credibility, trust is foundational. When compromised, it can be nearly impossible to rebuild.
Students argue that while adolescents are well educated on plagiarism, educators should take a deeper dive into introducing students to the ethical and moral conflict.
Godburn said, “I think we should be reminded every now and then that it’s bad.”
As convenience becomes the priority, the temptation to take shortcuts becomes more prevalent. In the process, teachers worry that students risk losing writing and analytic skills.
“We’re at a tricky time right now. I think a lot of students don’t think it’s that big of a deal. What teachers are trying to explain to students is that you still need to know the process. It’s about practicing critical thinking skills,” said Christina Heredia, an English teacher at CHS. “Kids are so caught up in not wanting to do a bunch of work, so they don’t think about the moral implications of it.”
When students fail to develop foundational skills early on, the gap becomes more apparent in higher academia, where assignments require deeper analysis and expanded critical thinking.
Heredia said, “All you’ve done is cheat yourself. It does no good to cheat your way into a university, because then, once you get there, you don’t have the skills for it. You’re not going to be able to keep up.”
The struggle is compounded by a sudden loss of structured support.
“Once you get to college, you are on your own. So many of our students who get into prestigious colleges struggle once they get there because they haven’t built any sustainable systems,” said Boelman.
Without the skills they were meant to develop, bad habits, and the usage of unoriginal work go from being helpful to an unsustainable obstacle.
The appearance of Courier articles published under different bylines on an alternate website points to a much larger issue– in a past-faced climate where technology is rapidly evolving, how can we ensure integrity doesn’t get left behind?
Transparency Note: Sadie Godburn’s father is the advisor of the Calabasas Courier.
