Should Students Spend Time Earning Money?

This happened in class not 30 minutes ago. Long story short, a student gave a great answer to a question asked in class, so much so that I feel compelled to post it. Also, this should be that much more impressive for those who have ever taught a class in Japan and know the tasking effort of asking a student to give his or her opinion.

Note: I can't remember what was said verbatim, so this is just as close as I can put it. Also, names are changed to protect the innocent.

Teacher: So let's practice making rebuttals. I will take a sentence from the passage (a short essay that he made on the topic 'Students should spend three months earning money') and make a rebuttal about it. Then Ray will make a rebuttal about my sentence. After that, you will make a rebuttal about Ray's sentence. OK, here we go. "The author says that students may waste the money that they earn, but I think that earning money by themselves will help students realize the value of money."

After hearing this, I had no clue how to rebut that because I agree with it. However, I had to play devil's advocate and so I came up with.

Ray: "I see your point, but I believe that some students still won't know the true value of money."

Not the best thing, but I simply couldn't come up with anything else. We then gave the students about one minute to think about it and form a rebuttal.

Teacher: OK, so today is the third... Who is student number 3.... Ah, Rina. Please give your rebuttal to Ray's sentence.

Rina: I see your point that we may not know the true value now (she emphasized 'true'), but I disagree. When we start earning money when we are 20 or 21, if we make a mistake or get into trouble, there will be no one to help us. But now, since we are still students, if we have any trouble with our money, our family or friends can help us. So it is a good idea to learn the responsibility now so that we are prepared when we are adults.

In our heads, my teacher and I have our mouths held open aghast in stupefaction.

Teacher: 素晴らしい！ (Eng: Incredible; amazing; wonderful)

Again, for those of you who know what it's like to ask a student their opinion on something - even in Japanese - I think you'll see the significance.