Should Evolution be Taught in High School?? Pageant contestant answers...

[liveonearth]

This video is a composite of answers to this question by candidates for the Miss USA Crown. The vast majority don't believe in evolution, but most seem to think that both evolution and creationism should be taught in school. The California girl that got the crown is a science nerd! Yeay!! Miss Kentucky (~5:30ish) represents the south painfully well.

Comments

Re: what is the purpose of education?

[ford-prefect42.livejournal.com]

I view the role of the schools as to provide support to parents in raising children to be educated society members.

This means that the role of the schools is *subservient* to that of the parents. The debate goes both ways BTW, I have met many parents that have been instructed *not* to teach their children to read or write, or to teach them science at home because then the child will be bored in class. Can you imagine that? The school actually instructing parents *not* to teach their children?

It also means that the curriculum will need to be flexible to avoid the situation becoming adversarial (such as the evolution debate). More classes should be elective, and fewer mandatory. More differentiation of classes should be offered (advanced standard and remedial), different degree types should be offered in more cases (trade, standard and college track). Much of the current curriculum really *is* simple brainwashing, and should be dropped (this'll allow most of the things I listed to be done without needing to spend more than we already do).

Further, It should not be mandatory. nor should it be federal. Education is *not* a "right". It's something that really ought to be offered to everyone if at all possible, but there is no reason to institute it at the federal level, nor is there any reason to cram disruptive students into a classroom where they can see to it that *no one* gets an education. For many, public education is their only way out of a bad situation, for others, it's nothing more than a safe hunting ground for criminal activity.

Re: what is the purpose of education?

[liveonearth.livejournal.com]

I can totally imagine schools wanting the kids to come in with plenty to learn. Nothing worse than sitting through classes on shit you already know... Though kids can get bumped forward when their skills exceed their classmates.

"Rights" are certainly a touchy issue. I personally believe that we only have "rights" when we decide as a society that we are going to allow each other to have. For example, I don't see that we have any inherent right to life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness. Rather, we agree that we value these things and want everyone in our nation to share in them. In this way we could decide that we want everyone to share in some kind of education, or retirement plan, or healthcare, etc. A "right" is not inherent, it is a social contract.

Re: what is the purpose of education?

[ford-prefect42.livejournal.com]

For myself, I am a big believer in "negative" rights, meaning that your "right" to life means that it's not okay to murder you, your "right" to liberty meaning that no one can imprison you without due process. Where I have a *huge* problem is in saying that anyone has a "right" to anything that must be created by another person. "Positive" rights seem to lead rather directly to slavery. To say that a person has a "right" to food is to say that the farmers are enslaved. To say that a person has a "right" to medical care is to enslave the doctors. A "right" to education enslaves the teachers. Now, it *can* be done differently, by enslaving uninvolved parties to pay the doctors to provide the meidcal care, or whatever, but it still comes back to the same thing, whenever something is provided as a "right", it is taken by force from another.

Now, a just society will probably try pretty hard to provide, as a kindhearted service, medical care, education, and food, but for every person that avails themselves of those services, the overall society is due thanks, not condemnation for the instances of failing to deliver them.

The school that instructs parents to *not* teach their children is a failure. Completely and utterly.