I don't know if it is that bad. I too have noticed a bit of an elitist attitude by some of the monks. Yet, there are very helpful ones as well.

A post is a lousy form of communication because you can't always get what the author meant by a remark.

As to the homework issues? Well that is a debatable call. Some times you wonder if it is someone who is looking for someone else to do their work. You can pretty get the idea by how they word the question. One thing I have seen is that if a person is doing homework and they post a question with source; they always get replies as it shows they are making an effort.

Personally, I try to help. I at least will point them in a direction as exploring Perl is the fun part of it all! ;)