Why are you all contributing to the "dumbing down" of our children's education?

Question

People come to this Yahoo site with questions that are obviously from their homework, and rather than even attempt them themselves, they get answers, some of which are serviceable, from all of you. You may be having fun showing off your historical knowledge, or think that you are helping some person in need, but in reality you are teaching the person who is asking that there is always a shortcut that doesn't require them to do their own work.

Then, at the college level, students hand me papers that have been plagiarized from the internet. So we end up with adults who can't spell, don't know how to think about and answer a question themselves, and have all the morality of the guys who ran Enron.

Answer 1

i do not answer questions that i think are homework
I let the little buggers look it up for themselves

& IT IS THE SCHOOL SYSTEM THAT IS TURNING KIDS INTO IDIOTS

Answer 2

Lots of interesting answers up here. Thanks for the "soapbox".

My take on this is as complicated as everyone else's ... there is NO simple solution.

But, I have to ask why Yahoo sets itself up for this problem? There are many community guidelines. Why is there not one regarding plagiarism and cheating? It makes no sense that blatant requests for a "free paper or essay" or wanting answers to Penn-Foster exams are not violations of community standards, but telling those people not to cheat is!

However, I do believe that Homework HELP (whether posted in that section or this one) is valid. One must just be careful as to how they help and which questions they provide answers to. For example, I helped a math student yesterday by giving them the tools to find the answers to their questions.

I did the same with someone wanting history help. Although it was a blatant attempt to get us to answer their homework or exam question, instead of giving the answer, I pasted the passage where the answer might be found. Sometimes I'll give solid websites where students can find answers as well (almost NEVER Wikipedia).

I will also lecture about not cheating -- especially if I can turn their question around. One asked for an essay on truthfulness, and I gave them one -- about the value of truthfulness in academia! Doubt they'll appreciate it.

Have I collected my share of "thumbs down", violations and nasty comments? Yep. Do I care? Nope.

The bottom line is that we all need to look at ourselves before answering a question .. are we helping a student or enabling a cheater. If it's the former, go for it!

There is also a responsibility of the teachers. They know about the Internet, therefore they should know kids cheat and get papers, etc. up here. It's the teacher's responsibility to screen for that and take appropriate action.

Answer 3

Valid question. However, this is not just a Yahoo Answers question. The internet generally suffers from this. Many of my students will hand in work that has been copy pasted directly from web pages.

Usually I hang around the cycling section. That said I have answered a few sections here.

I think that all we can do is to make sure that our sources are valid. Add links to sites that will give an accurate answer. As for plagiarism. No matter what the medium, you are not going to stop that one.

Good Luck

Answer 4

So give them the grade they deserve and TEACH them proper research techniques.

What they can get from sites like this is discussion of the topic at hand. Reading the debates over answers can lead to the students to actually have to start thinking for themselves and look into the the topic a little deeper.

Assigning a 5 page paper and then telling them they need 3 books, 5 journal articles and 1 Internet source is not teaching research or critical thinking. Teach them the appropriate sources and how to judge quality sources first instead of limiting them to some arbitrary list of approved types of resources.

Answer 5

Good point but plagiarism existed long before the Internet. I think we have another problem, I know we do. Are our high school and colledge teachers teaching history objectively ? Examples : would a hard-core Republican teacher teach their students the truth about Reagan and the Iran-Contra scandal ? or a Democratic teacher teaching about Clinton and Monica ? Do history teachers skip over,add or subtract important facts for personal motivations ? I've seen answers on here that tell me that's what's happening today. I've seen answers on here supposedly written by a history teacher that I know are incorrect.
Nowadays people believe what they want to,or what fits in with their culture or society.
Morality seems to be a lost cause in the 21st century.
However, I do agree with you and don't answer questions I suspect are homework or give a thumbs up to " Do your own homework " answers.

Answer 6

Surely it is part of your duty as a teacher to educate your class as to what are "good" and "bad" resources for their research.

I don't think anyone on here relishes answering what are obviously homework questions, and most questions will never get more than a one-line answer or a vast swathe of obviously plagiarised work copied and pasted from another site anyway.

I was always taught to reference my sources - can't you insist on that? Like it or not, the internet is a resource that many people use - the important thing is that they need to be taught to be more critical in their approach.

After all, some adults will believe anything they read in a newspaper.

Answer 7

Ok- sometimes there are obvious homework questions which it would be unhelpful to answer in this forum- but there are also lots of other questions which aren't so obvious and may be looking for specific information.
I can't speak for anyone else, but as someone with a degree in English and History, I don't see what is wrong with sharing a little knowledge.
Yes, the internet is a shortcut for all sorts of things, are you saying that knowledge should only be available in books on shelves in reference libraries- who actually owns, controls, and delivers knowledge?
Does the internet promote laziness? Yes, and no also to that one. It has always been the case that people could pay to have their papers written by others, this is just a more democratic and less elitist form of cheating, if you like!
So your students are handing you plagiarised papers- I have been in that situation too, but it is easy to spot and easy to control- you just make them do it again in controlled conditions, using pen and paper.
Adults who can't spell? Is that my fault? If children are not taught basic language rules then they will turn into illiterate adults- the internet can't be blamed for that, it starts with parenting skills and exposure to written language from a very early age.
They can't think? Possibly not, but we are to blame for the faults of our children, surely- so what do you suggest as a solution? I think exposing them to the responses on yahoo answers will teach them more than they would learn from one washed up old lecturer in the classroom!!
Morality- who will be the arbiters of that then, in this age of information technology? Again, I have come across many moral arguments in this forum that have made me think about things in a deeper and more meaningful way- I think you come across as a sour and resentful person- is that the image you are trying to promote?
If so then leave this forum to those that find it interesting and enlightening!!

Answer 8

I think the entire concept of the "Yahoo answers" is about far more than a shortcut to homework. You don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Just having acess to the vast network of sites in the internet-world provides a convenient means to research and answer questions and homework. (We've come a long way since the "Wednesday nights at the library"). However, the capability to plagiarize has been available to every generation, in some way, shape or form. I might add it's difficult to plagiarize a yes or no answer, a specific date in history, the name of an important person, or the location of an important event.

We didn't quit publishing books for fear of copying, or ban dictionaries in schools to prevent their use by one person in advance preparation for a spelling bee. We shouldn't ever try to control information for fear that such information will be misused. It's the cornerstone of a democracy. With the good comes the bad. Intentional copying says far more about a person than just their intellect.

Teaching morality isn't a school's responsibility, yet it is convenient (albeit not always correct) to blame parents in hind-sight for just about every short-coming. Young schoolers cheat, it's when young people become high-schoolers and college folks that the shades of deceit pan out. Plagiarism, copying tests, compromising questions, bribary, and compromise (just to name a few); these are the tools of both young and old adults. The reasons are many: Drive to achieve, peer-pressure, family pressure, financial issues, personal advancement, all can drive one to take "short-cuts." I've known many people that compromised their parent-instilled morals to satisfy a goal of greater importance.

I take it you are a teacher, based on your comment of receiving student papers. So, I think you'll agree that we can't police plagarismby controlling the availability of information. Otherwise, what's the use of education. How can society pass on information and ideas if such information and ideas aren't available for public consumption? I think the concept and approach is still valid; students found to have "cheated," should be held accountable for their actions, and dealt with as approriate. Case in point: Enron.

Screening questions for potential value or use as a "homework short-cut," is (I think) an inappropriate, moral judgement against the person asking the question. No one can say for sure how information is going to be used, or the circumstances behind asking the question. At the very least, a person could be trying only to validate what they already think they know to be an answer to a question. It may have nothing to do with formal education. If it's merely a date in history, what's different between getting the correct answer from Yahoo, or turning pages in a reference book?

Also, trusting that a complete stranger knows the anwer to a question (when the answer really matters) is risky. I knew a person who once took a mid-term exam. He was unsure of one of several multiple choice questions. He peeked at his neighbor's paper and noticed he had selected a different answer. He erased his answer and went with his classmate's. Later, when he got the results of the exam, He failed by one question. Yep - the one he changed. He had originally selected the correct answer... He recovered and passed the class, but far more importantly, he learned a valuable lesson.

Finally, I doubt most people respond to many of the questions with a quality answer suitable for a good grade in high-school or college. Whenever I see a question such as What major changes were brought about by the industrial revolution, and be specific in your answer, I scroll on to another question.

Having had my say, I very much respect your career choice of being a teacher, and thank you and all others on behalf of the education my children received. I don't think teachers receive nearly enough recognition and appreciate your sacrifices. I'm amazed at how the public trusts our children's young minds with teachers, and then don't demand higher salaries to ensure a more competetive environment to attract the best minds, especially in view of the competition in other fields, such as idiot lawyers. Again, thanks!

Answer 9

Mea Culpa, Teach the kids to be responsible for their own actions. At the next PTA meeting tell the parents to watch over their kids a little better.

I was drilled constantly regarding plagiarism so I never committed it. I expect the same for the newer generation of Americans. Start flunking students for plagiarism so they won't turn out like the plagiarist Martin Luther King jr.!!!

Answer 10

The idea behind YA is providing answers to questions as they are asked. Very few here have the expertise or interest to detect all of the askers who are looking for study-free answers. The responsibility for academic integrity lies with the student. The best way I know to minimize the impact of plagiarism from this site is to increase the weight given in-class essays and other tests.

Answer 11

Well, I certainly see your point.

As far as younger kids go, though....it really is their parents responsibility to monitor their children while they do their homework. I know I watch my daughter do hers and am there to help her figure out something for herself, when she falters.

As far as college kids go, they are old enough to know that what they are doing is plagiarism and that they are not helping themselves in the long run. It's a matter of personal ethics.

I really don't think that you can hold the people here on Yahoo answers responsible for what others do or when they misuse an internet site. Again, the responsiblity lies with the parents or the older students themselves.