Students refuse to dissect animals
By
DAVID CRARY
AP
National Writer
Posted on Tue, Oct. 01, 2002
According to the Humane Society of the United States, eight states have
approved opt-out policies - Increasing numbers of students are asking to opt
out of the science class ritual of dissecting frogs or fetal pigs, branding the
practice cruel and insisting they can learn as much from computer simulations.
A 16-year-old honor student in Baltimore was removed from her anatomy class last
week after refusing to dissect a cat, then allowed back in - with the option of
computer alternatives - after protesters picketed the high school.
In Las Vegas, the Clark County School Board voted earlier this year to let
students opt out of dissections if they have parental support.
The new policy was adopted after a petition drive led by eighth-grader Laurie
Wolff, an A student who received a C in a science class two years earlier after
declining to cut up an earthworm.
Anti-dissection students also appealed for policy changes this year at a school
board meeting in Little Chute, Wis., and last year before a state Senate
committee in Vermont.
Little Chute student Amy Richards gave a practical reason for accommodating the
dissenters. "They won't learn much with their eyes closed because they're
disgusted," she said.
A student delegation from Woodstock Union High School in Vermont helped get a
bill introduced to allow students to use computer models instead of
participating in dissections. The bill died in the Senate Education Committee.
National teachers groups maintain that dissections are a better learning tool
than simulations, but recommend that instructors be sensitive to student qualms.
California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, New York, Pennsylvania and
Rhode Island. A similar policy is pending in New Jersey's legislature.
The Baltimore case illustrates how quickly a teacher's classroom decision can
become the focus of ideological controversy.
On Sept. 23, Jennifer Watson was taken out of her Kenwood High School honors
anatomy class and placed in a general science class after she asked for an
alternative to cat dissection. The next evening, Humane Society officials
attended a school board meeting, requesting that dissection alternatives be
provided districtwide.
The following day about 20 protesters picketed outside Kenwood High, and school
officials announced Jennifer would be allowed back in her class. She will
perform computer-simulated dissections, perhaps joined by some other students,
while the rest of the class dissects cats.
"I've loved animals my whole life," said Jennifer, whose family has
several cats. "I was standing up for what I believe in."
The Humane Society estimates that 6 million animals - mostly frogs, fetal pigs
and cats - are dissected annually in American schools. The society distributes
anti-dissection videos and loans computer software to schools interested in
offering alternatives.
"Students and teachers come to us on a regular basis saying, 'I don't want
to do this any more,'" said Lesley King, the Humane Society's director for
education and animal welfare.
She said school districts can save money by purchasing reusable dissection
software rather than buying dead animals that can only be dissected once.
The 9,000-member National Association of Biology Teachers is wary of the push
for alternatives. Although it urges teachers to be sensitive to students'
objections, its formal position says, "No alternative can substitute for
the actual experience of dissection."
Wayne Carley, the association's executive director, said many who oppose
dissection "act on emotion rather than intellect."
"This is an issue of academic freedom," he said. "A well-trained
teacher has the knowledge and experience to know how best to use
dissection."
The National Science Teachers Association, which claims 53,000 members, also
defends dissection but advises teachers to be flexible.
"There were few suitable alternatives when I taught, but now there are some
extremely sophisticated virtual technologies," said Wendell Mohling, a
former biology teacher in Shawnee Mission, Kan., who is associate executive
director of the science teachers group.
The pressure to cut back on dissections is even being felt in college and
graduate programs. King says the Humane Society accepts the need for dissections
in veterinary education, but urges schools to use only animals that have been
euthanized because of illness or old age.
ON THE NET
Humane Society of the United States: http://www.hsus.org
National Association of Biology Teachers: http://www.nabt.org