Prophecies of the Apocalypse

As an educator it is inevitable that you will encounter the student or students who are convinced that the world will end.  Especially with the 2012 prophecy looming over the horizon (in December - on my birthday, actually).

In my frustrations as an educator, I find that it is our duty to spotlight these individuals as people who haven't the foggiest idea what they are talking about.

Useful arguments to use against a student "prophet":

1. What evidence do you have that says that the world will end in this way on this day at this hour?
2. Of the tens of thousands of prophecies of the apocalypse that have been made in human history, what makes this one instance the most credible of all of them?
3. What are you willing to do about it?  Some people have spent their life savings and quit their jobs to follow their beliefs and spread this message of ignorance to the masses.  What are you willing to do with the last moments of your life now that you're a believer?
4. If the world is going to end tomorrow why are you here in a classroom?  This is how you'd want to spend the last hours of your life?
5. Put your money where you mouth is.  Not that I'd encourage educators to make money off of the gullibility of a student, but at least get them thinking at another angle that they may believe the world will end but they're not willing to risk anything to back it up.
6. How gullible do you have to be to listen to a person who really has no meaningful intentions in spreading this message other than to generate mass hysteria or to attract attention they never would have received otherwise.
7. Make up your own prophecy to highlight how gullible students are and demonstrate the need to ask questions about what they are told by complete STRANGERS!
8. Get into the habit of encouraging students to put these prophecies down.  Standing by and doing nothing only validates the noisiest of the bunch.  Have some sort of planned approach that is public and addresses an open confrontation to this belief.

Give me a break people.  Students are pretty gullible and when they ask me "Why do we have to learn science?" and they come into my class spewing this garbage that the world will end tomorrow, I usually give them an earful from this list.  As everybody should.