By Shawal Ras
Last weekend, I was prompted to a posting by a member of the university’s public Facebook group, IIUM Online, offering an assignment-writing service. The posting, which has generated hundreds of likes and comments, sparks a heavy discussion among faculty members and students on its ethical and trust issues, among others.
But the subject of ghostwriting is not new. It’s omnipresent if you’re aware of the Internet. Public websites, such as WriteMyEssay.com, EssayOnTime.com, and many more, are known to be offering words for a sum of money and they claim “70% of students use essay writing service at least once.”
A simple Google search of “assignment writing service” produced over 30 million links and the search engine even promote the best writing services money can buy on top of your search query.
Aside from such websites, the creation of social networking sites also aids the growth of such services. Internet user, sometimes hid behind a fake name, can create a profile page and offer their service for, let’s say, MYR50.00 for a 20-page essay.
Easy, right?
Despite knowing the severity of attaining to such act, I do believe that some students do rely on custom writing service in a desperate need to get their paper written within a deadline, or perhaps, because of their lack of knowledge to write a compelling paper. Whatever the reason, these services are increasingly popular and we need to address it.
First of all, is ghostwriting a form of plagiarism? No, not really. Plagiarism implies stealing someone’s work and calling it your own. But in this case, ghostwriting service actually provides its clients with new and custom-written essays. It is purchased. In short note: the paying students are claiming credit for work they never write, thus, they are evidently cheating, not learning.
Secondly, why would someone participate in such activity knowing that it carries severe repercussions? Money. Assignment writing can be a profitable business. For example, a ghostwriter can easily charge its client MYR10 per page if they’re willing to wait for a few days, but for those who need the work done within a day, the price can be doubled or quadrupled, depending on the amount of work needs to be done.
To me, there’s one important question to answer this pervasive problem: why wouldn’t you write your own assignment? What is it that makes it so hard? Some may answer they’re juggling commitments and it’s hard to do one within a short amount of time. With the rising cost of tertiary education, more and more students do part-time or even full-time jobs. Not to mention there are students who are balancing school with marriage or parenthood, or other family responsibilities.
Although you and I understand why one would engage in ghostwriting, the fact is also plain and simple: the idea of paying someone else to do your work is wrong.
In Islam, cheating and deception are absolutely forbidden. According to Sahih Muslim, Prophet Muhammad has stated “Whoever bears arms against us is not one of us, and whoever cheats us is not one of us.”
In an article in IslamReligion.com by Imam Kamil Mufti, Islam views cheating and deception as heinous sins. Cheating and deception are alien characters in the teaching of Islam, hence it is a contrast to the noble character of a true Muslim.
To me, students who use ghostwriting services are cheating no one but themselves. You are depriving yourselves the opportunity to actually acquire knowledge by doing research and writing your own assignment. You’re missing the value that holds hear in the pursuit of knowledge by attending a university. It’s a loss, I’m being honest.
Conclusively, the availability of assignment writing service is probably a hint of something much deeper. Tougher rulings should be thought of to curb this issue whereby stern penalties be imposed by the university. Students should be encouraged to reflect the real purpose of education: to learn new ideas and concepts, thus, challenging their hearts and minds for their own betterment.
I leave you with a saying that I think is the essence of education and how important it is to learn something: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” ***
Photo taken from Fluentu