Blame or Responsibility

I was walking home one day from school and saw 2 teenagers arguing. Apparently, they had been assigned a history project and they had both received an F. 

Because it was a group project, I did not see how they had failed, having followed all the instructions. I decided to dig deeper. What I found out was that only one of them had done the project as a favor to the friend. The teacher found out.

Blame and responsibility are two words that get confused and misused all the time.

Merriam Webster’s definition of Blame:–

• to express one’s unfavorable opinion of the worth or quality of
• responsibility for wrongdoing or failure
• the state of being held as the cause of something that needs to be set right​

Who was to blame for the failed grade?

Merriam Webster’s definition of responsibility:–

• 1: the quality or state of being responsible: such as
• a: moral, legal, or mental accountability
• b:  ​Reliability, Trustworthiness
• • 2: something for which one is responsible: ​Burden​

​

Who is responsible for the failed grade?

The one that did not do the work or the one that did the work?

Why?