this student was supposed to write a short position piece on the benefits and/or drawbacks of animal protein in diet. they are quoting jordan peterson and say that even though producing meat is worse for the environment, the problem is overpopulation.
to be clear, i don't think this student is knowingly being malicious, but is obviously finding bad shit online. how would you approach this with the student? it's an online course so we've never met in person, but i have written about a thousand emails to the entire class since september, so they know who i am.
for context, i didn't design the course, just doing the grading.
it seems pretty simple to me. Reactionary views tend to come from a short list of sources, those being things like racism, misunderstanding of anthropology, outright historical fabrication, misapplied feelings of national pride, etc.
Those don't hold up under the most basic application of academic scrutiny, so grade the students on the basis of having extremely poor sources backing up their claims. The student is citing Jordan Peterson, a clinical psychiatrist who notoriously has a shaky grasp on subjects outside of his expertise, to talk about environmental and nutritional issues. Tell the student to find better sources.
Also apply some very light mockery. Keep asking "Why?" with reactionary stuff because it will inevitably end up resting upon racism, lies, some kind of nascent cultural attitude, etc.