And Olivia, it's not cheating to ask for help on an essay provided that you're getting help with how to write an essay in general rather than specific responses to the essay topic. Also, whether she'd have been better off listening to the teacher depends on if her teacher is any good. I've encountered plenty of teachers who are crap, and sometimes students are better off with someone else helping them learn something. And even if if her teacher is good, it still doesn't mean she can't learn just as much (or more) from people other than her teacher.
I tutor kids at the clinic I work at. Most of the time that basically means I help them with their homework. I don't give them the answers though -- I help them figure it out on their own. I also explain things they didn't understand from class and such. The public (i.e. government-funded) schools where I live are crap, and a lot of times it's obvious from the homework they're getting that the material is being presented horribly (even with a good teacher, the curriculums are largely standardized, so there's nothing the individual teachers can do about it) and I can explain it better. And even with a good teacher, it's unlikely their teacher would have time to work with them one-on-one, so I'm also just giving them a chance to get individual help with the material that ideally they should get at school but generally can't. But I am still helping them with their homework. So is that cheating then? Should they be left to figure it out on their own?
|