Getting it Done Not the Same as Doing it Yourself

So today I kept watching my students "helping" each other. They were grabbing their friends' papers and writing answers for them or they would show their friend their paper so they could copy the answers. I told them that they may think they are helping their friends but they really aren't. Eventually, they need to learn the information themselves (they are 2nd graders). I came up with this example. What would happen if there was a teenager who watched their parents drive for years but never learned themselves to drive and you hand them the car keys. I'll tell you. Well what happened to me was I was 15 1/2 and it was my first day with a learners permit. I kept bragging to my step dad that I was such an awesome driver (though I had not driven a day in my life). So he basically told me to put up or shut up. He got out of his truck and told me to drive. It was 8 o'clock at night and he had an old truck that was some weird stick shift that didn't even go into 1st gear. So I started driving and some how shifted it and was able to drive it around the corner in our neighborhood. Then I got to our driveway that was shared with the neighbors and had a slight incline to it. I made it about 3 feet up the driveway before it died. I tried to restart it and get it going. I had trouble with the clutch and the truck just started lurching forward. The truck bumped into our neighbors Pinto over and over again as the truck would lurch forward, roll back, lurch forward, roll back. My step dad kept screaming at me to put on the brake. I thought I was hitting the brake the whole time when in actuality it was the clutch. I moved that Pinto with the giant truck from the driveway to the middle of their front yard. The only reason I stopped was that he finally ripped the keys out of the ignition. My problem was I couldn't just drive by watching others drive. I had to LEARN to drive all by myself.
I started thinking about this analogy. This is exactly how I feel about diet plans that make you buy their foods. Or these companies that ship you gourmet diet meals. I feel strongly that to live a healthy live and maintain your weight loss, you MUST learn to prepare food on your own. If it's not sustainable, your weight loss will not last. Now I know some people may not like Weight Watchers or may think that we obsess about points. For me, it's just learning about nutrition and portion control. It's about being conscious of what I put into my mouth daily. I know I still have a lot to learn. But I have learned enough to lose 65 lbs (now days), and have been at this weight or lower for the past 2 years. You just have to learn about food and labels, measure your food, and keep track of the amount you eat.