Homework help-or cheating? My son, a high school junior, lent his homework to a friend to show him a general approach to the assignment. The friend plagiarized some of it. Their teacher found out and put a note in my son's file that could prevent him from getting into the National Honor Society. Was what my son did so wrong?

• Author: Cohen, Randy
• Position: THE ETHICIST - Brief article - Column

Name Withheld, Oregon

Students often help one another understand assignments, a fine way to aid learning. If that was your son's intent, then his conduct was not unethical, but it was imperfect. Rather than provide actual answers to the homework, he would have done better simply to discuss the assignment with his friend.

Your son should have been savvier about the way his assistance might be abused. If the friend asked to borrow a gun, a mask, and a large canvas sack with "loot" stenciled on the side, your son might reasonably infer that these things would be put to a dubious use. He should also have known if school rules forbid such homework...