I believe the answer is: they are accepted as true by many policymakers.
This lead to the creation of legislation that are based on superstition rather than empirical evidence. This phenomenon is much more prevalent in the area with lower rate of high education, since there is lesser amount of people who are capable enough to challenge and disprove the superstition.
One of the reasons that urban legends about teaching are damaging to teachers is that they are accepted as true by many policymakers.
