Teaching Intellectual Property to Kids

 When I was an older, elementary student, I remember having to use outside sources for projects. Do I remember if I had to cite these sources? Of course, not but I probably had to. I do remember going to my school library and the librarian teaching us how to research various articles and use them for our assignments. As a graduate student now, I cannot go a discussion board or even a paper without quoting an author in APA format. One article states that "A student can rarely complete a class assignment without conducting a search on Google, using Yahoo! to send an email to a professor, soliciting feedback from friends on Facebook, reading excerpts from texts on Google Scholar, or drafting notes on a WordPress site" (Reyman, 2013). Nowadays, so many things require citations or work acknowledgement. However, when should we be teaching this to our students? Who should be teaching this?

While my school librarian taught me how to do research in the school library, is it the librarian's job to teach students about intellectual property? While I would say yes, I do think teachers need to teach this as well. Most of the time, librarians will teach about research because a teacher has told them that the class is working on a specific project. I believe that before students get invested in the projects, teachers and librarians need to go over intellectual property. It is important for them to understand that we must give credit where credit is due because if we don't then we would be stealing someone else's work. 

The next question is, I believe, a little harder to answer. When do you start teaching intellectual property to kids? Do you start in upper elementary, or do you go lower? Or do you wait until junior high school? I believe the earlier they understand the significance, the better it will be. However, how can one gauge when the student knows the significance to intellectual property? 

What do you think? You think teachers and librarians should wait until secondary school or start in a certain grade in elementary? Why do you feel this way?

References

Reyman, J. (2013). User data on the social web: Authorship, agency, and appropriation. College English, 75(5), 513-533. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24238250

Comments

  1. Candace DentonJune 16, 2024 at 2:51 PM

    Hi Lauren, I have a similar experience to yours, as I first learned about conducting research in 5th grade. As reflected on my memories of 6th-12th grade, I could not remember a specific teacher emphasizing why it was necessary, outside of it simply being a requirement for the school assignment and to avoid receiving a failing grade if I unintentionally plagiarized. As for age, intellectual property can be taught as early as 5th grade at a high level and provide deeper insights based on their comprehension level as students progress through the grades.

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