"There seems to be a trend lately where people just try to guess at the syntax"
It's not just on codeguru forums either. Other forums are also having these types of questions posted.

There's also seems to be a trend where people don't, or don't know how, to debug programs properly that compile but don't perform as expected.

I'm going to be kind to the students and say the problem is that some tutors are setting some c++ programming problems without giving the students enough understanding in program design, testing/debugging and language syntax for some students to competently complete the designated assignment. Learning to program in a language like c++ from scratch can be terribly difficult at first until it all starts to fall into place. That's where having a good introductory book on c++ programming really helps. It takes practice and experience to 'think like a progammer'.