shaping young minds

I was just on Facebook and someone posted something about "shaping young minds." Ugh. For some reason, this phrase bothers me. I don't know, it just doesn't seem right to take credit for molding and shaping the minds of the young ones, even if you are an actual teacher or member of the academe. The human mind is more complex than that. I think students shape their minds however they want to.

Yes, input from teachers matter, but in the end, it's up to the student to decide how they want to make use of the input, how it comes together with all the other influences and information that they take from the world around them. Teachers share knowledge and viewpoints, they can't actually dictate how a person's head should be (using the term) "shaped" like.

I wouldn't want anybody taking credit for "shaping" my mind. I decide on what I want to think about and how I want to think, thankyouverymuch.  This doesn't mean I'm ungrateful to my teachers, because I am, I truly am, I'm just saying that one teacher alone can't take credit for the way I think. :)