The general guideline to success in school is that you need to absorb the facts provided by your teachers. There's a slight problem with this. Not all facts are correct.
There are multiple reasons that teachers get facts wrong. Sometimes, this is a result of incompetence. For example, I had a fifth grade teacher who told us that we were supposed to ignore leading zeros with decimals.
Another problem relates to convenience. In my early math years, my teachers insisted that larger numbers could not be subtracted from smaller numbers. It turned out that they felt it was simpler to say it was impossible than to explain negative numbers before they felt we were ready.
There are also times when teachers exploit the fact that their students are a captive audience. They cram a skewed perspective of their personal beliefs in hopes that their students will mindlessly accept them.
I have been known to say that lawyers, politicians, and used car salesmen are more trustworthy than teachers. This profession has repeatedly been proven to be corrupt and dishonest. Since teachers are known to threaten futures, most people are too fearful to acknowledge their deceit.
In many ways, teachers have become reliant on the illusion of perfection. If students question their teachers, the illusion of perfection will be broken. Once a student realizes that teachers can't be trusted, it becomes difficult to accept the same kinds of facts that end up on tests. Grades end up in a downward spiral, and futures are put on the line. That's why most students don't dare question what they are told.
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