Hello Bruce!

The hints shouldn't really be 'costing' them anything, the question will simply be marked incorrect if they choose to get a hint.  On Khan Academy, a question will not be marked correct unless the student is able to do it on their own, without needing a hint.  If this were not the case, then they would simply be able to go through the lessons, using the hints and not learning anything, but still getting all of the questions correct.

I'll be glad to help you out if you have any further questions.

Regards,

Loyalty

I'm not seeing the 'hint' option, I don't know why. I was able to use them in my previous exercises but they aren't available now. May I know why this is happening, is this issue from my side(browser, etc) or something else?

Hi, 

There was a recent change made to the hints within the exercises. Now you can only find them once you've answered the question either correctly or incorrectly.

Hope this helps!