Some of them are obviously cheating. Others really are just asking for some assistance in understanding how to go about the work.

It’s a shame, but there’s no way to catch them at it through here. They’re really only hurting themselves because come final exam time, if they don’t know the stuff, their mark is going to suffer big time.

Cheating on homework has gotten so bad that a growing number of jr. high and high schools where I live do NOT give marks for homework. The work is expected to be done because that is what will enable to the student to do well on quizzes, tests and exams, which a teacher can better monitor to see if the student is cheating or not.

If you consider the number of children in the world, and the enormous amount of homework that they get, then the proportion of children who use this site is very small. I think that the majority of pupils who come on here do use the site for the purpose for which it was intended, and the “serial” offenders are obvious, and it`s quite amusing to see that their questions for the most part are ignored eventually. Also, remember that teachers are not daft, they will realise pretty quickly that a child has been cheating with homework. I thoroughly enjoy working out what a child doesn`t understand, and giving a clear, concise, and understandable answer. What has amazed me is that they come from all over the world !

I agree with Alison. And add…

As a graduate student working on my thesis (which involved laboratory work on a substance that only about a dozen researchers in the world are working on right now) research to find the “right” answer was very important. If I had not posted some of my research questions/lab results I would never have made contact with these other experts and received much appreciated guidance. The Internet is a part of virtually everyone’s world, even students. At least they are seeking out answers instead of not turning in homework at all. One skill that was lacking among my generation of college students was simply the skill to research – how to find information, wherever the search leads you (library, Internet, colleges, etc.). I actually encourage my students to utilize the Internet and assign projects that specifically require them to search for information and answers. If they want to use Yahoo! Answers then more power to them.

That’s okay. They can’t come to this website when they take a test at school. yahoo.com is blocked from our school system’s computer network. This is no different that parents doing their homework for their children at home. Who can tell whether they went to this website or any other website to find the answers to their homework?

In the end its not about how they get there homework done its whether they know the material well enough

It may get their homework done, but it won’t help them on tests. And, eventually (hopefully) they will figure out they aren’t helping themselves.