A recent news item reported that teachers at Florida schools will now be allowed to use the word "evolution" in their classrooms.
This is a welcome change, in my opinion.
In the past, students attending Florida schools heard the words "change over time" to describe the idea that life forms changed over time.
Evolution Should Not be a Scary Word Even though the word "evolution" can now be used in Florida schools, it must be prefaced by "the scientific theory of..
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" I wonder what Board of Education officials are concerned about here.
To my knowledge, the scientific community has embraced the likelihood of evolution but it has not been proved to be a fact.
Part of the reason that we send young people to school is to teach them how to think logically and reasonably about things.
There is nothing wrong with presenting the theory of evolution in Florida schools.
Let students delve into the theory and discover what it describes.
Depending on the grade level involved, the students to conduct their own research into the theory and come to their own conclusion about whether it is credible.
If they are asked to defend their position, it becomes an exercise in logical reasoning and writing ability.
Teach Creation and Evolution For the people who would prefer to see Creation taught at Florida schools, I have this suggestion: Why not teach both versions of how the world we know it came into existence? I have no objection to both being examined in schools, as long as they are both presented as theories.
Certainly, if Creation is going to be studied in Florida schools, the material must be presented with respect, due to the religious aspect of the subject matter.
Students should be encouraged to share their views of evolution and creation, as long as they confine comments about whether either one is valid to discussing the merits of each school of thought themselves.
At no point should attacking another person's religious belief (or lack thereof) be encouraged, much less tolerated.
If nothing else, introducing evolution to Florida schools may be a great lesson in tolerance.
That is a lesson that all of us need to be reminded of from time to time.
It's far too easy to form opinions about things before we have really examined them in detail.
Florida schools can choose to take the opportunity to teach much more than evolution versus creation here.
They can use this opportunity to get kids thinking for themselves about where they think we all came from.
Let's encourage the students to examine these two possibilities and come to their own conclusions.