You've hit on the primary reason why I quit teaching. Although I think the compulsory schooling paradigm is fundamentally flawed, there's no excuse for being intellectually lazy. You dumb things down, they whine. You spoon-feed them, they snivel. You do most of it for them, they cry about having to do the rest. And in the process, they convince their parents that you're not being fair.
*deep breaths* happy thoughts* babbling brooks * chirping birds * puffy clouds *