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Post by Brooke on Mar 19, 2004 2:50:04 GMT -5
Here we go...another stolen topic Should kids be forced to do dissection in high school or should it wait till college? Should there be limitations on what should be allowed to dissect in high school? Should these classes be required?
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Post by Brooke on Mar 19, 2004 2:53:37 GMT -5
I HATED dissection. In fact thats one of the main reasons why I didn't want to go to veterinary school. I just can't bring myself to do it. I don't have the stomach for it. I hated the fact that we were forced to dissect in school and I did everything possible to get out of it. I never learned anything from it.
I don't think high school or middle school kids are mature enough to learn much from it and I feel it is a waist of time and resources to force kids (infact many who have no iterest in it or ever will) into doing so.
I feel this should be postponed till college and I also feel it should not be a required course.
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Post by Nicole on Mar 20, 2004 18:25:16 GMT -5
I think it should be an elective in high school or at the very least students feeling strongly against it should be able to opt out with a parents note. Although you really don't know how you are going to react until you do it. I didn't have dissection in high school or college. I would probably if I did. ;D
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Post by Aussienot on Mar 20, 2004 22:20:36 GMT -5
I cannot see how cutting open a frog adds value to the average high school education. We don't also make high school students take radios apart to see how they work, or let them pull human teeth, or split atoms. Someone please explain the benefit to me. The only thing I learned is that cutting living things open makes me queasy and raises moral dilemas which were not dealt with in the classroom.
I think it makes sense to engage in these kind of things if you are practicing medicine or one the applied sciences, but normally you make those kind of choices in College.
Just my 5 cents (did you know Australian money does not have pennies, prices rounded up to a 5 cent piece.)
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Post by Brooke on Mar 21, 2004 0:30:14 GMT -5
I didn't have dissection in high school or college. I would probably if I did. ;D How the heck were you so lucky!!? I've never heard of anyone not having to do dissection at any point in their school career.
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Post by Nicole on Mar 21, 2004 10:00:56 GMT -5
How the heck were you so lucky!!? I've never heard of anyone not having to do dissection at any point in their school career. You know, I don't know. Even Brian says he dissected frogs. Maybe we did do it, and it was so traumatizing, I blocked it out of my mind. The more I think about it, I am having visions of frog guts in my subconscious...
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Post by Richard on Mar 23, 2004 23:46:34 GMT -5
I'd thought I'd hop into this thread....although I'm a little green around the gills, I can say I did the froggy dissection thing back in high school..(that was a while back too....no jokes please)...
But look at it this way, these days, it's still an important thing to be able to look at stuff like that (I'll have a reason shortly, when I think of one..) but with the advances of computers and programs, I could see my daughter sitting in front of a computer screen in a few years doing the same exact things I did almost 30 years ago but with no smell and probably a lot more clarity.
If its deemed an important part of science then I don't see a problem but I'd also say, it sets up the basics for a fundemental abiltity to examine something closely and understand the inner workings (yeah, even a frog...yeech) and how everything works together of the insect, amphibian or whatever. To be able to put those kinds of principals in place in a young mind are important skills to be utilized in later life....or I could be completely wrong and just say it was a goofy way for the science teachers to have a good chuckle at our expense while we screeched and howled when pulling them little buggers apart.....ahhh the memories..I can still smell the stinky stuff they came in...
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Post by Laura on Mar 24, 2004 0:17:47 GMT -5
Hmm, interesting question . If it weren't for my high school biology class, I probably wouldn't be working in the field today. And yes, I dissected a whole lotta stuff back then, starting with the frog and working my way up ;D! I say make it a second year elective for those students who are truly interested in the field, otherwise, opt out and take interpretive dance .
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Post by sibemom on Mar 24, 2004 6:22:45 GMT -5
I dont think they should be forced to do it either. I took advanced science classes in high shcool because my goal at that time was to become a vet. I must say I found it interesting picking upart the frogs, fetal pigs, etc... but if the kid just does not have the stomach for it then they should be able to opt out.
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Post by packerdogs on Mar 24, 2004 9:47:08 GMT -5
I think only those that want to and are interested in it should do it. But, I think maybe a video in regular biology would be fine, then kids can just close their eyes and the teacher doesn’t need to use any corpses, since the video will last forever. Afterall, not all kids having to take calc, or woodworking, or cooking, right? FYI – we didn’t even get frogs, we just hopped in and started with the fetal pigs. Now, I honestly wouldn’t mind dissecting any type of corpse that had died, however, fetal pigs was disgusting, looking half pig/half alien. Maybe if they took all the human fetus from the millions of abortions that happen, people would think twice about having an abortion (sorry that’s all on my mind today!).
Cathy
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