Would you do this for money? Should I?

Get your mind out of the gutter.

As I'm sure you all know by now, I just had a baby. I'm looking for a way to make a few hundred dollars a month without leaving my house. I'm considering writing college students' papers. On the unethical scale, how bad is that?

I never cheated in college, ever. Once in elementary school I couldn't remember how to spell a word on my spelling test, and I knew the word was on a poster in our classroom so I looked at the poster and got the answer. Once in high school during a Spanish test, I noticed that I had a verb conjugation written on the back of my workbook. I had already written the conjugation on the test, I didn't deliberately write it on the notebook for the purpose of cheating, and when I looked at it I saw I had it right on the test, so I didn't change my answer. That is the entire history of my academic cheating.

I really like writing papers. It's easy for me and I'm good at it. I hate to fall back on the lame "if they didn't get it from me they'd get it somewhere else" like a drug dealer or something, but it's true.

Opinions?

How would you feel if the Doctor responsible for the life of your new baby only passed because he was able to buy his papers from someone....

Find me a med school that passes its students based only on written papers.

for a pre-med degree because you bought the papers... My point was to start the thought of helping someone pass who probably should not be in that field and the harm it could cause.

for herself writing papers for others. She primarily does it for people who work full time jobs.

two cents:
you have the time, and maybe working students don't. do the research, organize the info, but just don't write the paper. heck, you can even edit and format, but don't write it.

is the biggest problem any deomcracy faces

1. Earning your money through unethical means will do damage to your mind and your soul.

2. You would set a bad example for your child.

3. You would be interfering with the educational process. Students must write their own papers.

Maybe you could write for your local newspaper or maybe set up a web site instead. If your internet writing is good enough, you may be able to advertise. Heck, Drudge makes money off his stuff and he mostly just has a big page of links.

I did that while in college. The football players needed it, but I never wrote a paper for them. They were shocked that I didn't know who they were and that I could care less about sports.

Or how about becoming a researcher for someone? Some folks will pay for genealogical research, which is fairly easy to do via the web.

I don't want to have to leave the house. I thought about tutoring elementary and HS kids, but I don't want my baby to get sick--school kids bring germs with them wherever they go.

...but it COMPLETELY undermines the rationale for education.

This is my second attempt to write an answer that isn't sputtering and incoherent. People who "contract" or download papers have missed the point of their educations altogether-- it isn't about getting good grades, it's about learning. Some students make a constant effort to game the system-- I've had students who would certainly do better if they put half as much effort into learning as they put into looking for ways to duck their responsibilities, but thankfully these students are a real minority. People who write papers for students simply facilitate student efforts to undermine their own education. This, in turn, wastes the time of an entire chain of people whose job is to facilitate real education, wastes a seat that might have been occupied by a more deserving student, and worst of all, reinforces the message that cheating is an effective strategy for dealing with challenges throughout life. Not to mention that I and most of my colleagues will GLEEFULLY thrash the academic careers of anyone we catch submitting someone else's work as their own!

You're right, they have missed the point of their education. If I thought I could help them get the point, I would. But if they're to the point where they're trying to buy a paper, I don't think there is much a random stranger can do to convince them to do the work themselves.

I also don't care if they get caught. They should get busted.

I'm a pretty ethical person. I'm not a cheater. Which is why I don't understand why the idea of doing this doesn't bother me at all. But it doesn't.

I'm a pretty ethical person? What in the hell does that mean? So was Kenneth Lay to a certain degree, he even donated large sums of money to MD Anderson, the best cancer center in the world.

Jolly good luck!!

I am sure this would be considered conspiracy to commit fraud (ie a student handing in a paper that you wrote knowing they would hand it in)

Would you get caught? Maybe not, but with a new baby, do you really want to take that risk?

I'm not going to get arrested for writing somebody else's paper.

Word of mouth? As soon as you let other people know what you are doing, the chances of getting caught increase. One pissed off client, or someone who gets a lower mark than one of your clients and knows why, and who drops a dime on you and next thing you know you could be charged.

You may THINK it is ridiculous, but what do you think the institutions you would be defrauding would think?

IF you get caugght, and IF the university is pissed off enough (and remember uni's take this shit VERY seriously) they could even SUE you. Would a few hundred a month be enough to risk that?

I suggest you find something NON-CRIMINAL to do.

Think of it this way - would you want YOUR CHILD to cheat their way through college?

set up a website offering to proofread papers for cash. I assume I would be asked to write some people's papers.

Give me some ideas for NON-CRIMINAL things I could do to make money from my house (although I don't believe this is criminal activity). I live in the middle of nowhere. There isn't a local newspaper I could write for, as someone suggested.

No, I wouldn't want my child to cheat his way through college. I didn't cheat my way through college. Lots of other people do.

Conspiring to commit fraud is criminal activity.

It is THAT SIMPLE.

fraud is defined as a deception deliberately practiced
to secure unfair or unlawful gain
http://www.legal-definitions.com/fraud.htm

...and use whatever justification you need to. You are lying to yourself about it being wrong. You posted the question here hoping to get someones permission so you could use that justification. It looks to me that you have already made up your mind. I expect that soon you may even get hostile towards us because we are not allowing you to justify what you are planning to do. And what about the students? Aren't you teaching them that they can achieve anything for the right price? That personal effort is not needed. Sounds like the road to Republicanism. And there is NicoleM standing by the roadside with her hand out like a toll booth attendant.

you will see that I asked, "On the unethical scale, how bad is that?" I know it's wrong. I would expect to feel like it's really, really wrong, but for some reason I don't. I'm trying to figure out why I don't feel bad about it. I thought soliciting other people's opinions on the level of badness would help me figure it out. But if people give me stupid reasons why it's wrong, I'm going to say so.

<edit> I haven't made up my mind that I'm going to do it. It's one thing to consider it, but it's another to actually *do* it.

But if people give me stupid reasons why it's wrong, I'm going to say so.

You refuse to accept one very sound reason - it is illegal - so what would be a stupid reason by your standards?

Why do you even have to ask that question?

MAKE it ethical by TUTORING STUDENTS TO WRITE THEIR OWN PAPERS. You could offer adivce in your home OR ONLINE.

I figured out why I don't care--it's the sleep deprivation. I'm literally too tired to care. By the time I would have actually done this, I hopefully will be sleeping more than twenty minutes at a time and will have come to my senses by then.

So just ignore me. I'm not going to do it. :)

I, too, am a stay at home mom. I started out typing papers here and there. Not writing them, typing them. Then I hooked up with someone who was a real estate appraiser and I started typing appraisals. From there, I took appraisal classes and got my license. The best thing is, I appraiser homes when I want to. When the kids are in school or hubby is at home. It's my own hours and a VERY good paying job.

Good luck! Laura

Of course it's unethical.

And if you missed it, it's a shame because they told you HOW it could be done without getting caught! :argh: These people who run the schools are clearly a few reports short of an A+ themselves... :eyes:

But I saw it.

One guy makes thousands.

But you have to be aware of systems that check for plagiarism and you can't use the same writing style, or else a bright teacher (uh-huh) might notice. Heck, they all go to a web site to find out if their students plaigarize...

I still despise those white men in suits most (they were also saying that the poor economy is no excuse. That's bull. We all know it's not what you know but WHO you know. Having an "A" means more in society than deserving it. This is NOT cynicism, this is the truth. :-( )

In the end, this is latter day America. Go out and cheat a neighbor. You need to survive too, and that is more important. We are America, land of opportunists and lawsuits. I say you should go out there and be the epitome of all Americans. :thumbsdown:

I think being a drug dealer is a better idea (depending on the drug)--not unethical, just illegal.

Make notes on how they can clean it up.

Or do proofreadering, but it's painful if you have trouble with the itch to "fix" bad writing.