I have very much the opposite view. I mean let's analyze this rationally.

  1. What are the chances that the homework is posted Anonymously or by a completly new user. Pretty Damn Good. This person has not spent any time here, they don't know how the community functions. They don't bother lurking and realizing that it isn't nice to post homework here.
  2. What are the chances that this person has searched the site for a solution.Nil, they are lazy, their homework is due in the next 24-48 and they don't have time to do it themselves, that's why they posted it.
  3. What are the chances that this person is going to stay on and participate in our community once they received 100 replies to the effect of "We don't do homework. You suck". or worse, if an overly-eager monk actually completes their work for them Not bloody likely. They will leave with a bad taste in their mouth or with their homework done. They will either think we are snobs or simply ensure they post their next assignment here. Because they know that if they weather the storm of flames they will get one sucker who posts the code for them.

Now I realize that this community is very open and accepting. I enjoy the help I have received and I enjoy contributing. But I don't believe leaving the homework nodes intact with 20 replies all stating "we don't do homework" in a variety of facetious ways is going to get the message out. While it deters that single user and annoys a lot of monks, it will do nothing to deter future homework posters as they are typically new to the site and don't really care about community etiquette. Just about getting their homework done. Erasing the node deters the mis-guided user and annoys a lot less monks. And when somebody new comes around to post more homework? We'll just have to deal with them then.

Later

In reply to Re: Re: Homework threads aren't necessarily evil (!hide) by pzbagel
in thread Homework threads aren't necessarily evil by dragonchild

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