Jan 11, 2024 By Mary Jo Podgurski 3 min read

Q: I feel horrible. I put a lot of time into my essay for English class, and my teacher accused me of using AI. She made me rewrite it or take an F. I don’t know what I’m most upset about – her lack of confidence in my ability to write well or her mistrust of me. I did not use AI, and the paper was also not plagiarized. I rewrote it because I want to maintain my good grade, but the whole time I was rewriting it I felt like I was forcing myself to dumb down. I thought about telling my dad, but he always tells me I’m old enough to fight my own battles. I thought about telling my principal, but I’m worried he’ll take my teacher’s side not mine. So, I’m telling you. Was I right to rewrite the paper? What can I do? – 17-year-old

Mary Jo’s Response: I hear your frustration. It must be difficult to see your scholarship questioned.

You don’t share how your teacher determined your paper was written with the use of artificial intelligence. Do you know? I researched the topic and found many teachers are concerned about how smoothly AI can create the written word. Did your teacher set class standards for AI use before accusing you? Was there a discussion about how AI can change a student’s papers? Were you the only student who had to rewrite their paper?

What is your relationship with your teacher? Is it positive? Are you able to approach her honestly and seek her advice?

I know a few professors who use plagiarism checkers. When I wrote my dissertation, many years ago, AI was not a factor in academic writing, but my cohort submitted our papers and dissertation chapters to a plagiarism checker. It is easy to copy and paste without citations. A plagiarized paper resulted in a failing grade.

Plagiarism checkers like Turnitin are now adapted to include checks for AI. Teachers can upload their students’ submissions to Turnitin as usual, and AI-generated content is detected alongside plagiarized content.

I think rewriting your paper was the safest thing to do because it maintained your grade. I understand your desire to follow up on this incident, especially since I assume you continue to be a student in this teacher’s class.

You have a few options. Speaking to a parent or trusted adult is an excellent choice. You showed initiative by reaching out to me. I hope your dad will understand you need adult support; such support could make approaching the principal easier and less intimidating. It is your right to know how your teacher determined your work was not original. If an AI checker was used, respectfully ask to see the result. If not, then the teacher’s decision was subjective. Has anyone else read your essay? Showing it to another teacher for an opinion could also help.

I’m saddened by your feelings of mistrust. Education is about connection. This situation could disrupt your learning. I wish you confidence in your writing ability and a second chance to prove yourself.

Have a question? Send it to Dr. Mary Jo Podgurski’s email, podmj@healthyteens.com.