Disturbing business in Japan
A typical scene that many families in Japan will have recently experienced, and probably not for the first time: It’s the fall semester is starting in less than 24 hours. The kids who played all month suddenly realize that they have to do 40 pages of kanji and math drills, write a book report for a book they haven’t read, and fill in 30 days’ worth of journal entries–an assignment that they dutifully kept up with for all of the first week of summer break. They clamor for help, and despite the scoldings and I-told-you-so’s, “nice” parents and the more responsible siblings reluctantly pitch in. Sure, the above isn’t an exemplary approach to avoiding bad grades, but recently an even more dubious method has been getting a lot of attention: online businesses have been offering to do your child’s homework and school projects for a fee! While the homework-by-proxy racket is nothing new, recent media coverage of the growing enterprise has brought to light this questionable practice and its appalling popularity among elementary and junior high school students.
Why are parents taking advantage of these services for their young children? One reporter, whose son just couldn’t do his book report or watercolor assignment, decided to look into these services for the sake of journalism (though the boy certainly lucked out there!) and was stunned by what he unearthed. It turns out that many companies provide work that matches your child’s age as well as mimic youngsters’ handwriting. He could also request a specific level of achievement, as in competition-worthy essays or artworks. Most surprising was the fact that the first three websites he contacted had to turn him down because they were overloaded with work orders. “Homework has a point because you work hard on it yourself!” Many online commenters were shocked that such businesses existed, and even worse, were thriving. They pointed out the ridiculousness of this practice, saying “The parents are stunting their kids’ growth!”, “I believe parents shouldn’t even help, but this is much worse,” and “The kids are bound to fail tests this way; how is this benefiting them?” Indeed, not only does having others solve problem sets for you defeat the purpose of such work, but children would be missing out on all of the creative brainstorming and problem-solving opportunities that larger-scope projects provide.
Quite a few brought up the fact that much of schoolwork isn’t about the actual subject matter, but about learning skills like time management, meeting deadlines, and dealing with unpleasant tasks. Others mentioned that being scolded by a teacher or feeling embarrassed in class may be a life lesson in itself. Still, some are inclined to think that homework-by-proxy services will have no measurable effect on society in the long run. For families with money, will these businesses become an indispensable part of childhood one day, as natural as asking a grown-up for help or copying a friend’s answers?
Homework Hassle
After I broke my elbow, my buddy wrote all my homework assignments on my cast.
It really classed up the joint.
“Dad, can you help me with my homework?” “Sure son.”
“What are 5 animals that live in the ocean?”
“Three whales and two dolphins”
“Thanks dad”
“Anytime”
If I got 50¢ for every math test I ever failed,
I would have $7.20 by now.
Our son was getting progressively worse grades in school in spite of the fact he was a bright boy. We talked to the teachers and they agreed he was bright enough to do the work, but his fascination with computers at school preempted doing any homework. The teacher suggested that if we had a computer at home, Sam could do his homework on it and that would be the best of both worlds. We told our daughter away at college that Sam was failing the eighth grade and we were going to buy him a computer. There was a long silence on the line and she came back with: “If I rob a bank, will I get a getaway car?”
November 21st Birthdays
1985 – Jena Malone, 1946 – Goldie Hawn, 1938 – Marlo Thomas, 1931 – Petula Clark
1967 – Troy Aikman, 1969 – Ken Griffey, Jr., 1971 – Michael Strahan, 1951 – John Kennedy