What should I do?

[Zoopdedoopdeboo]

I have a biology lab due tomorrow. We were supposed to make slides of all the things our teacher had on a list, and then make sketches of each of them. Class time ran out before I was finished. Our teacher said anyone who didn’t finish could come in to his room during study block to finish, but I thought I would just look up pictures of the slides on the internet and draw them. Now I’m worried that is a sin. Is it? Am I being scrupulous? What should I do? Thank you for your help.

 

[FCEGM]

I have a biology lab due tomorrow. We were supposed to make slides of all the things our teacher had on a list, and then make sketches of each of them. Class time ran out before I was finished. Our teacher said anyone who didn’t finish could come in to his room during study block to finish, but I thought I would just look up pictures of the slides on the internet and draw them. Now I’m worried that is a sin. Is it? Am I being scrupulous? What should I do? Thank you for your help.

I don’t see any problem since you would still be doing your own work; assuming the pictures are the same as what your teacher showed, then you would be doing the work he instructed the class to do, but just not availing yourself of the material from him directly.

 

[Philthy]

I have a biology lab due tomorrow. We were supposed to make slides of all the things our teacher had on a list, and then make sketches of each of them. Class time ran out before I was finished. Our teacher said anyone who didn’t finish could come in to his room during study block to finish, but I thought I would just look up pictures of the slides on the internet and draw them. Now I’m worried that is a sin. Is it? Am I being scrupulous? What should I do? Thank you for your help.

Why dont you simply tell the truth? You ran out of time and didnt think that it would be a problem looking them up on the internet. When you finished it occurred to you that perhaps the teacher might object so you decided to speak with teacher. If the teacher objects, you will have to make up some work- but you will have gained the teachers trust and respect. If the teacher doesnt object, nothing more will come of it and you will still have gained the teacher’s trust and respect. And most important of all, you will have done the RIGHT THING. Don’t underestimate how important that is…

 

[Zoopdedoopdeboo]

The thing is, if I didn’t say anything, he may never know, so should I bother saying anything?

 

[Tabitha]

You recieved your answer in the post above yours. Take his advice.

 

[Philthy]

The thing is, if I didn’t say anything, he may never know, so should I bother saying anything?

The issue of whether he would know or not is irrelevant. The only issue is what is the right thing to do before God. Do you not recognize that you lack PEACE OF MIND already and that has nothing to do with the teacher’s knowledge of events? Pope John Paul ll said," Peace of mind is knowing that you are loved by God and that you are doing His will." You don’t know that you are doing God’s will by remaining silent and it is causing you anxiety. It has to do with the moral law that is written on your heart. The consideration “if I didnt say anything, he may never know…” is of the world and not of God. But I will echo Scripture to you: “Do not conform yourselves to this world, but be transformed by the renewel of your mind that you may discern what is the will of God…” Spend some time in prayer over this.
Im older than you which simply means I have the benefit of experience which simply means I have made all the stupid mistakes you will be tempted to make and have the benefit of HINDSIGHT. I can see the situation as a past event while you wrestle with it as a future unknown. It is very easy to judge in hindsight, and it’s a no-brainer from where I’m standing.
Let me give you one glimpse of what Im talking about. Right now you are simply focusing on the situation at hand and your primary consideration is whether you can avoid doing any more work. Correct? That is not really where your focus should be. Your focus should be on what got you into this situation in the first place. And what was that? It was your own irresponsibility and laziness for not having done the work and taken advantage of the make-up offer the teacher gave you. Remember? If you get out of this situation without any consequence whatsoever, do you know what will happen? You will have learned nothing from it and you will REPEAT the behavior again involving something much more important. But you can face a small consequence now to learn that lesson or you can face a much larger one later to learn it, but either way you will learn it…eventually. Do it NOW, while you are relatively young and the price is relatively small (redoing the project is the worst case scenario, having some anxiety about telling the teacher is the least case scenario). You should accept that small price to pay NOW to learn a valuable lesson FOREVER. Let me know what happens - I will be praying for you .

 

[DeltaForce]

Hi there,

I know your situation I’ve been there myself. In my experience they won’t notice but what if someone else has done the same as you? You may be accused of plagiarism or copying off someone else.

Much better to be open and honest. If you’re honest then there’s nothing to be afraid of. If you lie, you need more lies to cover the initial lie, etc. Of course I’m not saying that you’ll lie; it’s just an example

 

[LeahInancsi]

To the OP, the teacher said you “could” come to his room during study block. He didn’t say you “had” to. I get the impression that the purpose of having you draw the pictures of the items on the slides is for you to know what they look like and have a record of them. If you draw your pictures from pictures on the Internet, this goal will be accomplished.

There should be no problem using the Internet.

 

[Liberian]

Zoopdedoopdeboo,

(My, what a moniker!) Hello and welcome to the Catholic Answers Forums! I hope you have a blessed and uplifting time here.

The basic question is, what is your teacher trying to accomplish by having you make the slides? Presumably he is trying to teach you the material on the slides. If you study the material attentively and learn it, I don’t think it makes any difference whether you got them out of the text book in his office or off the internet. If you have seriously studied the material and have the slides to show for it, I think you have fulfilled the teacher’s purpose.

As far as I know, the primary problems with getting stuff off the internet are plagiarism–claiming as yours an essay that you did not write, which is simply stealing–and getting answers without working through the problems. The purpose of working through the problems is to learn how to work through problems; the answers themselves are secondary.

• Liberian

 

[Philthy]

To the OP, the teacher said you “could” come to his room during study block. He didn’t say you “had” to. I get the impression that the purpose of having you draw the pictures of the items on the slides is for you to know what they look like and have a record of them. If you draw your pictures from pictures on the Internet, this goal will be accomplished.

There should be no problem using the Internet.

Having “the impression” of the purpose is a fancy way of saying “Im not sure what the purpose is” Only the teacher is certain what the purpose is and that is who should be making the decision. The teacher is in the position of authority and that authority should be respected.
To say that there “should be” no problem using the net is another way of saying that “Im not sure if it is a problem”. It is also a conclusion based on an impression rather than a fact. In such circumstances it is best to be certain. This is most especially obvious when we consider that consultation with the teacher will merely result in CONFIRMATION of your suspicions if he simply asks the teacher. There will be no extra work or anything - but he will grow as a person, gain the respect of the teacher and perhaps even spread the gospel if the teacher asks, “Why did you bring it up - I would never have known?” and he answers “Because I believe it was the right thing to do and my faith complelled me to do it”

 

[Philthy]

Zoopdedoopdeboo,

(My, what a moniker!) Hello and welcome to the Catholic Answers Forums! I hope you have a blessed and uplifting time here.

The basic question is, what is your teacher trying to accomplish by having you make the slides? Presumably he is trying to teach you the material on the slides. If you study the material attentively and learn it, I don’t think it makes any difference whether you got them out of the text book in his office or off the internet. If you have seriously studied the material and have the slides to show for it, I think you have fulfilled the teacher’s purpose.

As far as I know, the primary problems with getting stuff off the internet are plagiarism–claiming as yours an essay that you did not write, which is simply stealing–and getting answers without working through the problems. The purpose of working through the problems is to learn how to work through problems; the answers themselves are secondary.

• Liberian

Very good analysis, but you failed to answer the fundamental question: “What should he do?” Should he determine for himself the appropriateness of his actions or respect the authority of the teacher who gave the assignment?
I realize this is not a BIG deal either way but I am surprised to hear some suggest that, based upon personal rationalizations of some fundamental unknowns, he should not consult the teacher. If you, as well as others, truly believe that there is nothing wrong with what he did, why would you hesitate to have him CONFIRM that belief by speaking to the teacher? Do you really believe that any one of us could ease his conscience more than his hearing the teacher say, “Thank you for bringing this to my attention but there is absolutely nothing wrong with what you did. If you ever have a question like this again - just let me know and I would be happy to help you.” Only with that statement will there be a true finality to this.

 

[LeahInancsi]

Having “the impression” of the purpose is a fancy way of saying “Im not sure what the purpose is” Only the teacher is certain what the purpose is and that is who should be making the decision. The teacher is in the position of authority and that authority should be respected.
To say that there “should be” no problem using the net is another way of saying that “Im not sure if it is a problem”. It is also a conclusion based on an impression rather than a fact. In such circumstances it is best to be certain. This is most especially obvious when we consider that consultation with the teacher will merely result in CONFIRMATION of your suspicions if he simply asks the teacher. There will be no extra work or anything - but he will grow as a person, gain the respect of the teacher and perhaps even spread the gospel if the teacher asks, “Why did you bring it up - I would never have known?” and he answers “Because I believe it was the right thing to do and my faith complelled me to do it”

CHILL!!
I’m just offering my opinion. That’s what we do here.

It would be best for him to go to the teacher’s room and complete the drawings from the slides the teacher has. It would be lazy to sit at home and do it from the Internet. Also, the slides on the Internet may be different from the slides the teacher is using.

Peace