I guess I have always believed that you should be kind to everyone, and that means putting yourself in their situation, but I also believe in trying to make things fair and doing what you think is the right thing.
Hi Lily! I want to talk to you about something. Lately I think you have been copying my work, and I want to know why. You're my best friend and I don't want us to fight but I don't think it's ok for you to be copying my work. Is there something going on that has led you to do this that you want to talk about?
I decided to talk to her about it, because I thought that if I could explain the problem and why it was upsetting me then she would understand, and we would be able to resolve the problem, and I would be able to understand why she did it.
I'm really sorry...I know I shouldn't be copying your work because it is cheating, and it is also unfair to you, but I really don't want to disappoint my parents, because they get so angry with me if I do badly in school.
I think I made the right decision talking to her about it, because it meant that we could both express our side of the story instead of either ignoring it or just telling a teacher.
We talked about it for a while, and decided that Lily could get a tutor to help her instead of copying other people's work.