Semicolons

Why use a semicolon? I so often see semicolons used where they aren't supposed to be used, and I see them not used when they should be. The point of a semicolon is to join two independent clauses.

The rule is, that if the two clauses can stand alone, it's okay to use a semicolon.

NEVER use a semicolon with a conjunction. A conjunction is a word that combines two independent clauses (for, and, yet, but, so, nor, or).  Since a semicolon and a conjunction most often have this same function, it's not necessary or grammatically correct to use both in a sentence.

To make it easier, my high school teachers taught me that it's most appropriate to use a semicolon when you have two contradicting clauses. This way, the contrast between the two clauses can be seen better since they are in the same sentence.