Controversial: Science to be taught in schools
Teaching kids about the way the world works, insofar as it can be ascertained using the tools of science, is something we’ve come to expect. Should it therefore be a subject of controversy? The British House of Commons has recently passed legislation that will require primary schools to teach evolution to kids and I have no doubt it will ruffle a few feathers.
Science class †
Why this should be a big deal in the 21st century, is hard to comprehend. Do these same schools not teach their students that fire requires oxygen to burn, demonstrating that a flame in a sealed space will be extinguished when the element has been consumed, or teach them why a bulb lights up when a switch is closed and current flows through a circuit? These are all examples of classroom science and the teaching of evolution should be no more remarkable.
This legislation will almost certainly be met with misgivings and protest from some quarters, most notably from groups with faith-based agendas. Such groups are very powerful in the United States where such laws would be near impossible to enact in most states, and unfortunately their influence extends across the pond to the United Kingdom.
Concerns over teaching evolution in primary schools would probably not have been raised even one or two decades ago, other than that the subject is perhaps better left until the later school years, which is a valid argument. Some faith groups, however, would have you believe that the subject should not be taught because it is wrong, and their voices are getting louder as they gather more and more support for their anti-scientific ideas.
Dismissing the overwhelming evidence in support of evolution, built up in the 150 years since Darwin wrote On the Origin of Species, they would have you believe that the entire world was created by a supernatural being or some other intelligent designer. Many Biblical creationists would endorse the teaching of their belief that the Earth and everything upon it was magically brought into existence a mere 6000 years ago!
Excessive government control over what is taught in schools is neither practical nor desirable, but this new step is necessary for the sake of our children and the generations that follow them. By properly educating our children and giving them the tools to reason for themselves, we can thwart those who would have us living in the dark ages, ignorant of the truth of the world, slaves to religious doctrine.
† Image by bowbrick (Creative Commons attribution)
