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Web Site Does Kids' Homework for Them

by Evan Shamoon on March 5, 2009 at 01:06 PM



Does it ever feel like the rich keep getting richer while the poor keep getting poorer? Well, they do, and this isn't helping: namely, a new French Web site that lets children pay for older students to do their homework for them.

The site, which goes live on Thursday, is called FaisMesDevoirs.com, which translates to DoMyHomework.com in English (yes, someone already owns the URL). Using the site, children can purchase a final presentation (with slides and speaking notes) for 80 euros (or about 100 bucks), or answers to smaller-scale math problems for an equally staggering 5 euros (or about six bucks).

"I realized there was a gap in the market," founder Stephane Boukris told Reuters. "Add to that a dose of insolence, a zest of arrogance and the Internet, and you have FaisMesDevoirs.com."
Responding to predictably outraged teachers and parents, Boukris insists that the schoolchildren would still be learning because of the annotations attached to the papers, which will apparently explain how the older students got their answers.

"Of course some schoolchildren might use the system to cheat, but they'll have to learn sooner or later because we won't be there on exam day," he said.

We're just not sure we understand how a child could be tech-savvy enough to use the Web site, but not a calculator. [From: Reuters]

Top Hi-Tech Cheating Methods

    1. YouTube Cheating How-To
    In recent months, more and more students have taken to YouTube to show fellow connivers how to effectively cheat on exams. Some of their tactics are so complicated, though, we wonder if it wouldn't just be easier to actually teach the subject matter.

    2. Facebook Study Group
    About a year ago, Chris Avenir -- a Freshman at Ryerson University in Toronto -- started a Facebook group with the purpose of studying for a chemistry course. When his professor found out, though, Avenir was threatened with expulsion. Although allowed to remain in school, Avenir did have his grade docked and had to take down the page.

    Andrew Wallace/Toronto Star

    3. iPods: Not Just for Music
    When iPods first hit the scene, academic con artists jumped for joy. However, it wasn't long until teachers and professors realized that the students were listening to lectures instead of tunes and looking at notes instead of pictures. Many high schools and colleges have banned these and other MP3 players from the classroom.

    4. Chinese Cheaters Make Us Look Lazy, Cheap
    During the 2007 administration of China's annual college entrance exam, which enables less than 60% of its 10 million takers admission to college, one examinee was found with a wireless microphone. Outside, in a parked mini-bus, three accomplices used a computer to find answers to the student's whispered questions and a microphone to relay them. The student had paid them $1,500.

    Getty Images

    5. High School Hackers
    Last summer, Omar Khan and Tanvir Singh, both 18, were charged with breaking into their Orange County, California high school in order to steal test papers and change grades. When Khan's teachers found that the ordinarily C-student suddenly had a transcript full of A's, they contacted the authorities. The ringleader, Khan faces up to 38 years in prison.

    Orange County Sheriff's Department


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Tags: cheating, education, fais mes devoirs, FaisMesDevoirs, faismesdevoirs.com, homework, school, students, web site, WebSite

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