Should evolution be taught in schools?

[Sneakz]

Do you think that the theory of evolution should be taught in schools? Or do you feel it should be left out of the science classes? Perhaps a better question would be "Should Creationism be taught in schools?"

I'm not sure if this is a topic of debate in other countries (I am from America and I know it is quite an issue in some states here), so if you are from somewhere other than America, please feel free to share how this issue is handled where you are from and if you agree with it.

[Bettser]

I went to a Catholic school, and of courser evolution was not a topic of choice. I'm not an atheist or anything, but I dont believe in the whole Catholic faith. Lost my faith after doing numerous projects on the Holocaust. Famous quote via Elie Weisel "If there was a god, why would he let these horrible things happen... these horrible things to his CHOSEN people... how could he if he were to exist." Evolution sounds a lot more reasonable... how ever... there has to be a start eventually. Matter just cant appear one day. I think though, in schools (Even catholic), the ideas of creation should be touched on, not just the catholic idea.

[Hexx]

Should the most widely accepted scientific theory of the development of life be taught in science classes? I'm not even sure why that's being considered as a question, it would be like gravity not being taught as part of physics or mechanics classes.

[zxzero]

Personally I think neither should be taught. We have no idea on how we came to be and all of us know just as much about it as these theory's claim to know, which is nothing. xD

The topic should just not be taught, we are here, we know we are here but we don't know how or why we are here. I personally think that if they HAVE to be touched upon, that we say well this is the only theory's we could come up with, although none of us REALLY know wtf is going on we can always make assumptions.

Other than that just live your life, too much thought into these types of things can literally drive you to insanity. xD

[trix]

Personally I think neither should be taught. We have no idea on how we came to be and all of us know just as much about it as these theory's claim to know, which is nothing. xD

The topic should just not be taught, we are here, we know we are here but we don't know how or why we are here. I personally think that if they HAVE to be touched upon, that we say well this is the only theory's we could come up with, although none of us REALLY know wtf is going on we can always make assumptions.

Other than that just live your life, too much thought into these types of things can literally drive you to insanity. xD

Zero that's why it's called Darwin's Theory of Evolution. No science in schools (at least not the schools I have attended) is taught as pure fact. Science is so brilliant and wonderful in that it is constantly changing and we are pushing the boundaries of our knowledge year upon year.

There is very strong evidence to support the theory of evolution, in fossils and speciation, in genes and chromosomes in different animals and in the similarities between species that are far apart geographically. I'm not saying that evolution is a set in stone fact, however it does seem to be the most likely explanation given the evidence we have. Therefore I think it should be taught in schools until there is something to disprove it (which I personally doubt there will be)



---------- Post added at 06:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:17 PM ----------

If school was only being taught what people know for sure there would be nothing to teach!

[Sneakz]

Should the most widely accepted scientific theory of the development of life be taught in science classes? I'm not even sure why that's being considered as a question, it would be like gravity not being taught as part of physics or mechanics classes.

I completely agree with you, which is why hearing about this debate angers me so much. I firmly do believe it should be taught, as it is the best explanation that science currently has for why humans are here on this planet. Of course it has flaws in it, but it is very likely those flaws will be addressed by science further down the line. I've heard some people propose that Creationism be taught along with evolution as an alternative theory. Personally I disagree with this, as I feel thus far, Creationism is a rejected hypothesis which has no scientific evidence to back it.

[J_L_K_64]

the way i see it is like this, have the option to teach both, let the people decide which they want to take, i know there is a separation of church and state, but some people refute the evolutionary theory to the point that they are religious zealots in their minds, just as how the creationist theory is refuted by more scientific folk.

everyone has their own thoughts/beliefs on the matter, and since the theory of evolution is just that, you have to have faith in it because it cannot be proven fact just yet, just like you must have faith to belief that your god is doing what it does for good(i say your god because there are many different religions) and created everything there ever was in 7 days

[Sneakz]

the way i see it is like this, have the option to teach both, let the people decide which they want to take, i know there is a separation of church and state, but some people refute the evolutionary theory to the point that they are religious zealots in their minds, just as how the creationist theory is refuted by more scientific folk.

everyone has their own thoughts/beliefs on the matter, and since the theory of evolution is just that, you have to have faith in it because it cannot be proven fact just yet, just like you must have faith to belief that your god is doing what it does for good(i say your god because there are many different religions) and created everything there ever was in 7 days

The big difference is that the theory of evolution has LOADS of scientific support, and some gaps here and there in our knowledge that have yet to be filled (and very likely WILL be filled as we uncover new discoveries). Teaching Creationism in a science classroom is like teaching a fairy tale and calling it a reputable theory. It is a story with literally no credible scientific evidence to back it. While it may be what some people whole-heartedly believe, it takes a much larger leap of faith than believing in evolution does.
No disrespect of course to those who believe in Creationism (or another form of religiously based explanation for our existence). If it is what you believe in, more power to you. But the foundation of science is to teach methods of observable experimentation, study, and research. Not supernatural claims.

[I_royalty_I]

Where did the first organism come from?
Where did the water come from, the Earths core, the mountains, the everything..

I don't think it just evolved out of nowhere. You can only take evolution so far before it just becomes a wild guess.
Anybody who claims to have scientific proof of what happened 300milllion years ago is full of shit. There really isn't anyway to be 100% sure.
It is like you said, a theory.

I don't think either has it's place in the classroom. The exception to that is college.
I don't believe it has it's place however, in elementary, middle or high school.
Because if it is, then students will be forced to test on it, and some people might not agree.

There is A LOT of things that we know as facts, if we didn't teach this, it wouldn't be like they are missing a huge gap.
This is a subject that I think is best taught by the parents, and something students eventually pick up and decide for themselves.

Not knowing either of these won't put you better off, or worse off. It really won't matter.
There are much more important issues to study, rather than trying to force one or the other, or both onto the students.

[thequeen]

[QUOTE=trix;131176]Zero that's why it's called Darwin's Theory of Evolution. No science in schools (at least not the schools I have attended) is taught as pure fact. [COLOR="Silver"]

Hey you know what else is a theory? gravity. No really, look it up. We don't know what it is, we only know what it does. Yet you don't see people jumping pf buildings to test the theory of gravity and to discover where it comes from.

Evolution should be taught for the fact that it is. Basically, what Hexx said.