The real problem with all of these courses is they don't really teach anyone
how to operate a boat.

I very much agree.

However, there are a few things that are so fundamental that one needs to know
them before even attempting to learn to operate a boat.

When you learned to drive a car, odds are you understood what a Stop sign was
and what red, yellow, and green traffic signals meant before you hit the road.

That's sort of how I view these boater education courses. They aren't enough to
turn a rookie into any sort of a boater, but they might prevent a few disasters
caused by the absolutely and totally clueless exercising their perceived
"right" to boat in ignorance.