For the Children Defense

Teachers and their supporters have developed numerous defenses that have become overused. These defenses almost seem conditioned due to their tendency to show up just about every time that they encounter the appropriate trigger.

Trigger:

This comes up pretty much every time someone questions the motives of teachers.

Work Ethic Defense

Teachers and their supporters have developed numerous defenses that have become overused. These defenses almost seem conditioned due to their tendency to show up just about every time that they encounter the appropriate trigger.

Trigger:

This is a very common defense when anyone insists that teachers are lazy.

Money Defense

Teachers and their supporters have developed numerous defenses that have become overused. These defenses almost seem conditioned due to their tendency to show up just about every time that they encounter the appropriate trigger.

Trigger:

This defense is common with any issue related to the finances of schooling. For example, teachers are likely to raise issues if anyone question their motives while a levy is on a ballot. It is also used as a quick excuse when their shortcomings are revealed.

Argument:

The schools do not have the funds necessary to meet the educational needs of their students.

Flaws:

The problems with the schools is due to their anti-educational foundation. Funding only builds on that foundation. Previous increases in funding have never shown any benefits.

Related Misconception:

Misconception #43: Schools are underfunded

Future Defense

Teachers and their supporters have developed numerous defenses that have become overused. These defenses almost seem conditioned due to their tendency to show up just about every time that they encounter the appropriate trigger.

Trigger:

This defense tends to come up when people question the benefits of schooling for students.

 

Argument:

Future generations will benefit if they are better educated.

 

Flaws:

When taken literally, this argument is valid. People making this argument are almost always referring to our anti-educational schooling system instead of practical education. Schooling is regressive, mentally destructive, and detrimental to future generations. It would be far better to support educational rights.

 

Related Misconception:

Misconception #34: Schooling is vital to the future

The Grammar Defense

Teachers and their supporters have developed numerous defenses that have become overused. These defenses almost seem conditioned due to their tendency to show up just about every time that they encounter the appropriate trigger.

Trigger:

This defense comes up whenever someone criticizes the schools and makes a spelling or grammatical error.

Argument:

Any spelling or grammatical errors made by someone who has issues with the schools proves that they are less intelligent. Since they are less intelligent, they must be wrong.

Flaws:

There is a double standard here. The pro-schooling crowd makes a lot of mistakes, but those mistakes are rarely acknowledged. By comparison, the anti-schooling crowd is not given any leniency.

This is also an act of desperation. It distracts from the issue being discussed. Instead of arguing about who’s right, one side changes the subject to something unrelated. Everyone makes mistakes, and fixating on those mistakes rather than the actual comments does little more than prove that you are fighting a losing battle.

Related Misconception:

Misconception #32: Grammatical errors from the anti-schooling crowd proves the value of schooling

Babysitter Defense

Teachers and their supporters have developed numerous defenses that have become overused. These defenses almost seem conditioned due to their tendency to show up just about every time that they encounter the appropriate trigger.

Trigger:

In recent years, this argument has become very common when someone indicates that they feel that teachers are overpaid.

Argument:

Babysitters are paid more than teachers if you look at a per hour per child rate.

Flaws:

Yearly pay is much higher for teachers since there are limitations to the number of children watched by babysitters and the hours available. Most teachers would never consider switching to babysitting due to the reduced pay of the supposedly higher paying job. Babysitters also have more direct responsibility for the children and respond more directly to the parents. Teachers are cherry picking their arguments by fixating on a very specific advantage of babysitting, and insisting that the one advantage is applied to their profession while throwing away the reasons for that advantage.

Related Misconception:

Misconception #29: Babysitters are Paid Better Than Teachers.

Doctor Defense

Teachers and their supporters have developed numerous defenses that have become overused. These defenses almost seem conditioned due to their tendency to show up just about every time that they encounter the appropriate trigger.

Trigger:

This is a common defense when someone questions the value of schooling or when someone questions whether or not teachers are really as important as they claim.

Argument:

If it weren’t for the schools, we wouldn’t have any doctors.

Flaws:

This argument relies on the idea that if we didn’t have the schools that our current model for hiring doctors relies on, no hiring model could exist.

There is nothing that can be learned in school that can’t be learned elsewhere. Without the schools, people would still learn the skills for the profession. A new hiring model would be created to fill the necessary jobs. Since schools rely on sharing knowledge that has already been established, people with their own ideas would be more likely to influence the profession without our current restrictions. Doctors would exist without the schools, and the profession would be more progressive.

Related Misconception:

Misconception #27: We could not have doctors or other important professions without the schools

Literacy Defense

Teachers and their supporters have developed numerous defenses that have become overused. These defenses almost seem conditioned due to their tendency to show up just about every time that they encounter the appropriate trigger.

Trigger:

The literacy defense is used primarily when someone has written a comment that questions the value of the schooling process.

Argument:

If you can read and write, it’s because you learned in school.

Flaws:

The literacy rate is higher than the graduation rate, indicating that it is at least possible to learn how to read and write outside of school. We also know that development of written language, a related but more difficult task, had to have been learned elsewhere. Necessity is a strong motivator to learn how to read and write, and increased literacy that corresponded with increased schooling access would have occurred even without the schools. As far as I’m aware, no evidence exists that shows that the schools have legitimately improved literacy rates.

Related Misconception:

Misconception #26: If you can read this, thank your teachers

Crime Defense

Teachers and their supporters have developed numerous defenses that have become overused. These defenses almost seem conditioned due to their tendency to show up just about every time that they encounter the appropriate trigger.

Trigger:

The crime defense is not very predictable in when exactly it will come up, but usually involves questions regarding the quality of people who come up through the schools or questions regarding the need to graduate everyone.

Argument:

If we can keep children in school, they will be less likely to become criminals. This makes schooling a vital part of the war against crime.

Flaws:

The argument relies on the idea that it seems like dropouts are more likely to commit crimes than graduates. Numbers are never provided to back the claim, so there is no way to know whether or not it is actually true. Even if the core argument is true, several issues can skew the numbers in favor of the schools. There are mechanisms in place that inflate the crime rate for dropouts, which is very different from reducing crime rates among graduates. Looking at the bigger picture, an increased reliance on the schools has been completely ineffective at reducing the crime rate.

Related Misconception:

Misconception #19: Schooling is effective at reducing crime rates

The Discipline Defense

Teachers and their supporters have developed numerous defenses that have become overused. These defenses almost seem conditioned due to their tendency to show up just about every time that they encounter the appropriate trigger.

TRIGGER:

The discipline defense is usually triggered by arguments regarding such things as the work ethic of students and failure to complete schoolwork.

Argument:

Ever since we stopped allowing teachers to discipline students by physically beating them into submission, students will not do the work that is expected of them. Undisciplined children are at risk of not becoming products of the schools.

Flaws:

The abuse did not actually stop. It merely transformed from physical into emotional abuse. The argument also relies on the idea that schoolwork is vital to society. While we do openly discriminate against those who are not mindless products of the schools, we would be far better off if we could develop individual strengths rather than sacrifice ourselves to the schools. I should also point out that this is a classic example of teachers blaming their problems on their students.

Related Misconception:

Misconception #16: Getting rid of the paddle was a mistake

The Athlete Defense

Teachers and their supporters have developed numerous defenses that have become overused. These defenses almost seem conditioned due to their tendency to show up just about every time that they encounter the appropriate trigger.

Trigger:

The Athlete Defense is usually triggered about an argument about how well paid teachers are. If they are attempting to emphasize the value of the profession they will usually use the Athlete Defense. If they are emphasizing that they don’t think that they are making very much money, they might use the Babysitter Defense (more on that later) instead.

Argument:

Average elite-level athletes (I have heard NBA and MLB) are paid better than teachers, even though teaching is more valuable.

Flaws:

For starters, the numbers are skewed. They usually have a number related to average K-12 teachers (no college professors), and they use quick averages based off of elite-level athletes (no lower-level professionals or semi-pros). The primary reasons for the differences that they are talking about is primarily due to the differences in business models. Teachers would never accept the business model that is used in the sports industry. I should also point out that the athletic profession is more valuable than the teaching profession since entertainment is more valuable than mindlessness.

Related Misconception:

Misconception #14: We invest more in sports than schools

The Student Defense

Teachers and their supporters have developed numerous defenses that have become overused. These defenses almost seem conditioned due to their tendency to show up just about every time that they encounter the appropriate trigger.

Trigger:

The Student Defense is usually triggered by an argument about how ineffective modern schools are. While the related Parent Defense is more popular, the Student Defense could also be triggered.

Argument:

It is ultimately up to students to learn, but they don’t want to learn.

Flaws:

This isn’t nearly as bad as the Parent Defense because there is a valid argument involved. Learning is the responsibility of the students. The argument that they “would rather play video games” has become a cliché. It also helps shed some light on where the teachers are wrong.
These days, video games appeal primarily to the older students. Why are the teachers focusing on high school students rather than kindergarteners? It’s because the children who enjoy learning the least are the children who have spent the most time being around teachers, and teachers insist that learning must be a chore.
We show a healthy curiosity about things at a young age that helps us learn how to walk and talk. At that age, we generally love to learn. Teachers have no right to complain about students lacking the desire to learn when they are the ones who destroyed that desire.

Related Misconception:

Misconception #2: Teachers struggle to teach because kids don’t want to learn

The Parent Defense

Teachers and their supporters have developed numerous defenses that have become overused. These defenses almost seem conditioned due to their tendency to show up just about every time that they encounter the appropriate trigger.

Trigger:

The Parent Defense is usually triggered by an argument about how ineffective modern schools are. While the Parent Defense is the most popular response, the related Student Defense (more on that will be revealed later) could also be triggered.

Argument:

Teachers are spending so much time raising children for their parents that they can no longer find the time to teach.

Flaws:

Looking at the history of the schools, one of the original purposes of the schools was to allow the government to take over the role of parents. Looking at the schools today, that purpose is still visible. Additionally, teachers were never supposed to actually teach. They were supposed to indoctrinate. This also remains visible.

Teachers today are only using parents as scapegoats for their own problems. Since parenting has clearly declined, they should be an easy target. I would argue that most of the parents that teachers like (schoolwork is important, but human decency is not) should actually be viewed as bad parents. Pretty much any good parent in my eyes (children should do the right thing, even if they are pressured to do less and be less) will raise children who are almost certain to struggle in the schooling environment.

Related Misconception:

Misconception #5: The schools are being held responsible for the failures of parents