I'm with your son on this one! Who comes up with a lame example like an iPhone in the 1600's? You can't even begin to run the scenario in your mind without running into comical absurdities. No cell phone towers! No internet! NO ONE ELSE WITH A PHONE!
I teach at the university level, and I get push-back all the time on hypothetical examples I come up with. I either change my example to better fit the point I'm trying to make, or I laugh and say "C'mon, work with me, people!"
This is the teacher's fault from start to finish: 1) careless thinking on her part; 2) blaming a student for engaging in critical thought; 3) total failure of crowd-control skills; and 4) blaming the student again for #3.
The irony here is that your son is exactly the kind of kid we love to see in a college classroom, even if they need to learn to not sharpen their teeth on every passing side-issue. I see this type all the time, and they're the ones I have great hope for.
