My sentiments exactly. I am a research and subject librarian and I’ve actually asked questions here for work a few times when it was a subject I just wasn’t that familiar with (sports, math, etc.) and I couldn’t find the answer quickly online or in print.
Now if you go to perhaps my least favorite message board in existence- Yahoo Answers- damned near all there is there are the "when was George Wahsntonai the prrredescent of the Ustide State?* and the examples from the OP. Why in hell people actually log on and answer the little bottom feeders’ questions is beyond me when it’s clear they don’t give a damn about the answer beyond “A, B, C, or D”, and I don’t even understand how kids can be computer literate enough to post the question there but can’t google in “George Washington” to find out when he was president (and it’s literally stuff that simple). Sometimes it’ll be more “Compare and contrast the telegraph and the Internet as means of wartime technology” type questions as well- and again people will actuall answer their questions correctly and in a “just cut and paste” fashion! No idea what the appeal is to them.
Anyway, I don’t have a problem with reference style help, just actual honest to goodness “I’m too lazy to be bothered with it” homework, and the Pearl Harbor question was the former rather than the latter. That said, in that particular case the fact he admitted to posting under another person’s screen name, while not exactly identity theft, was valid enough reason to close the thread. I’d have no problem with his significant other writing “My significant other needs help with…”, however.
It wasn’t on SDMB, but for a while I (and a couple others there) helped kids with homework when we weren’t chatting. It was really limited; point them in the right direction, release. I’m kinda proud I did that. Been tutoring, paid or otherwise, since…7th grade, at least.
I support the no-homework rule on SDMB, because there are a lot of places that are* specifically* for homework help, and the discourse on the SDMB is not conducive to students interrupting. Especially when they need to be doing the work themselves.
A reminder: this rule, like all our rules, is expressed in broad terms. We do NOT want our rules to be a law-book, crossing all the t’s. We’d rather cross all the bridges when we come to them. That is, we really want only one rule: don’t be a jerk. The rest is commentary. We want to be able to interpret for each situation as it arises, rather than try to set rules that cover same. This is the approach we take in every ramification of “Don’t be a jerk.”
We’re more interested in the spirit of the rules rather than the letter of the rules. Neither the mods nor (we hope) the membership want this to be a rules-laden site. Instead, we want general guidelines. Remember that legit guests or members who violate the rules are warned (usually time and again) before any serious action is taken.
C K Dexter Haven, well put. I came off as really doctrinaire. Why doesn’t somebody stop me before I post such foolishness?
Um…I guess generally, homework help-seekers would be better off going to a site that specialized in that. Generally. Thing is, a chatroom should not wind up being a substitute for research, or group study with one’s peers. IMO. Naturally, I have and will continue to give pointers to the poor, hapless beings who inhabit the space I was once in.
I’m going to come out against a “No Homework” rule, for several reasons.
Firstly, this place really isn’t as popular or as well-known as we all like to pretend it is. We’re never going to have hordes of High School/University students beating down our proverbial doors in the hope we’ll write their assignments for them.
Secondly, people go to Google or Wikipedia first for that sort of thing now. We’re not living in 1998 anymore. It’s easier to go Wikipedia and type “Waterloo” to get information on the battle than to join the boards as a guest and start an OP of the “Can ne 1 tell me when the battel of Waterloo was k thx bye” variety.
Thirdly, as other posters have said, it should be an individual choice whether to help people with this sort of thing or not.
