Essay Writing Services Are Ethical And Necessary

Essay Writing Services Are Ethical And Necessary

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• AuthorRobby Bria

A quick Google search will turn up hundreds, if not thousands, of essay writing services on the web, ranging from major companies to part-time independent freelancers. The exact number of available service providers, as well as the scope of its practice, is difficult to gauge. A recent survey, however, found that more than 20,000 students in the United Kingdom— with more than a third enrolled at Oxbridge universities— purchase tailor-made essays via online websites like iWriteEssays.com.^[1]However, the practice of tapping another writer to write for you is not necessarily a product of the 21st century. In fact, it has been going on for centuries with presidents and heads of state hiring authors to pen their famous speeches, Fortune 500 CEOs employing speech writers, and even university professors bringing in students as research assistants to help in their study, only to be published solely in the former’s name.

While quite common among celebrities, politicians, and even industry professionals who want to publish work, but they cannot write it themselves, the argument on whether essay-writing services like iWriteEssays.com are ethical or not remains to be a heavily debated issue in the academia. In my opinion, it fully depends on the circumstances through which these services are sought. Undeniably, over-reliance on essay-writing services— where one finishes school without learning how to write a single essay because they outsourced all their coursework— can be very damaging.

But saying the services of essay-writing companies only benefit the lazy and privileged students would be completely wrong. Not only do these companies enable struggling writers to earn a decent living and even get recognized. They also save students who are unable to do their essays and papers themselves due to work overload, familial responsibility or other unforeseen circumstances. In such scenarios, these services are not only ethical but necessary. Sadly, most colleges and universities still frown upon this practice, arguing it is ethically wrong for students to procure the services of essay-writing companies. Sadly, this opinion is simply too naive, simplistic, and even self-righteous for completely discounting the plethora of reasons why students opt to receive the academic assistance in writing their essays or papers due.

For one, not all students are native English speakers who may easily grab the ins and outs of English grammar and essay writing. Today, there are at least 1.1 million foreign students enrolled in US schools, majority of whom, experience difficulties not only in getting settled and getting used to the new academic environment, but with understanding the English language as well.^[2] It is not unknown that many foreign students find it difficult to write college-level essays because English is not their first language. In fact, some of these students could be experts on the subject matter they are writing about and are great at grasping and understanding the course, but because of their lack of good written English skills, they end up with poor grades. Hence, this explains not only why essay writing services are extremely popular among foreign students but also why barring them from seeking professional help in writing their essay would be unfair and discriminatory to non-native English speakers.

Furthermore, it is no longer uncommon for students to work part-time. After all, it is great way for students to earn some extra cash and save up for their tuition, while gaining valuable experience. A Georgetown University study titled "Learning While Earning: The New Normal” found that somewhere between 70 and 80 percent of American students perform some kind of work while studying.^[3] This means 7 or 8 out of every 10 American students are also active on the labor market. This is one of the reasons why students may choose to use writing services— they don’t have enough time to write, because they work.  Likewise, having to work while at the same time attending class, studying for tests, completing assignments, and participating in extracurricular activities, the only work that a student can delegate is his/her writing work. For all the other activities, he/she will have to necessarily do them on their own. Undeniably, for a working college student, the most valuable thing is time. There is so much to be accomplished in so little time that most of said students would have to turn to writing services for some amount of help.

Indeed, in answering the million-dollar-question: "Are essay writing services ethical or not?" it is necessary to consider the completely valid reasons as to why students turn to writing services for help. The idea of ethics is very subjective, differing from person to person, and developed over years of societal and family conditioning. However, what can never be refuted is the fact that students today have too many tasks and coursework to complete and too little time to finish them satisfactorily. Hence, the choice of employing essay writing services remains to be ethical, even necessary, when juxtaposed to the increasing pressures on students arising from, for example, undertaking paid work, heavier coursework load, or lack of perfect grasp of the English language.

Work Cited

1. Yorke, Harry. "More than 20,000 university students buying essays and dissertations.” Telegraph,13 Jan 2017. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/2017/01/13/20000-university-students-buying-essays-dissertations. Accessed 20 June 2018.
2. atalova, Jeanne and Jie Zong. "International Students in the united States.” Migration Policy Institute, 9 May 2018. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/international-students-united-states. Accessed 20 June 2018.
3. Rapacon, Stacy. "More college students are working while studying.” com, 29 October 2015. https://www. cnbc.com/2015/10/29/more-college-students-are-working-while-studying.html. Accessed 20 June 2018.