Should Creationism be taught in Public Schools?

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Recommended: Should creationism and intelligent design be taught in schools

Teaching Creationism or Intelligent Design to our youth can be done in a way that is neither opinion based nor completely fact based, but may hold some risk of personal interpretation. The first thing needed to be considered is how can children of the middle school age range grasp such a deep subject and have the capacity to reach their own conclusion. Information found regarding the development of children in this developmental range was found in the book titled "Characteristics of Middle Grade Students,” Caught in the Middle by the Sacramento Department of Education. It was found that students of this age hold a variety of learning attributes that support the belief that children can handle both sides of this controversial issue. Some of those attributes include, propositional thought, consideration of ideas contrary to fact and, reasoning with hypotheses involving two or more variables. While the majority of this essay will focus on the pros of being diverse in these teachings it will also represent the opposite side of opinion.

Children between the ages of 11-13 hold an immense amount of personal identity issues. Discovering who they are and what they believe. During this time, a teacher has the unique opportunity to present all the facts surrounding the traditional theory of evolution and introduce facts of Creationism as well. In offering both sides to this idea of how the world began, it gives the students a great opportunity to find their own answers. What a wonderful experience for a teacher to see his or her students operating on fact-finding, discussions, and learning to appreciate differences of opinion.

Teachers of middle school students strive to enrich our children with all of the knowledge and facts of the The...

... middle of paper ...

... creation from him was all that was known and accepted. While we continue to live in a world of unknowns it is important that our children are taught that there is some truth in most theory’s or it would not be received as believable at all. It is only “opinion” after all. We should teach our children to research their own ideas, thoughts, and find their own truth.

Works Cited

Goodtein, Laurie. "Teaching of Creationism Is Endorsed in New Survey ." The New York Times (2005): web.

Parker, Gary. Creation Facts of Life. Green Forest: Master Books, (revised) 2006.(pg19)Google Books. web.

Sacremento California Department of Education. "Characteristics of Middle Grade Students,” Caught in the Middle. 1989.web.

The Pew Forum. pewforum.org. 4 February 2009. .

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