Weather
'We need to counter God in the classroom' say lecturer (From The Argus)
Get involved: Send your news, views, pictures and video by texting SUPIC to 80360 or email us.
'We need to counter God in the classroom' say lecturer
8:00pm Sunday 5th July 2009
A LECTURER at the University of Sussex has said children should be taught about evolution from as young as five, so they don’t mistake animated films for scientific fact.
Lecturer in education James Williams said that failure to teach primary school children scientific truth is playing into the hands of advocates of creationism – the belief that God created the world in six days.
He warned that creationists go to great lengths to influence primary children with comics, magazines and videos that mix scientific misconceptions with proper science.
Addressing the British Humanist Association, Mr Williams said creationists deliberately feed children scientific misconceptions.
Children then build on these, adapting all new knowledge so that it fits into their understanding of the world.
“While creationists have a right to publish and voice their views, no matter how far from real science they may be, the science education community must respond by introducing evolution and the reality of how life developed and diversified much earlier in the curriculum to combat the establishment of creationist misconceptions.”
Mr WIlliams said TV programmes like The Flintstones and Barney created a false interaction between humans and dinosaurs which creationists exploited.
He said creationist literature contained images of dinosaurs in the Garden of Eden or descriptions of dinosaurs dying out during the great flood.
“This wilful distortion of real science in favour of pseudoscience is nothing less than intellectual abuse,” he said.
“Misconceptions set in primary school will be very difficult, if not impossible, to correct over ten years later.”
More Brighton News stories
- A23 closed after two-car crash
- Market site will become Brighton arts centre
- Anti-yob blitz in Worthing
- New health centre to open in Brighton
- Brighton and Hove to get new green graveyard
- Man behind University of Sussex cuts plan resigns
- More Brighton and Hove land to be used for growing food
- Pictures of Sarah Payne found in her killer's cell
- Anger at NHS chiefs £175,000 golden handshake
- Rapist jailed after abusing five children in Brighton
Your Say YourArgus
TheInsider, Brighton says...
8:30pm Sun 5 Jul 09
Is it any wonder China and India are succeeding while the UK rots because our so-called boffins spend their time on this nonsense.
cheezburger, brighton says...
8:42pm Sun 5 Jul 09
0-0-0, Brighton says...
8:59pm Sun 5 Jul 09
And no doubt he's aware that things we get taught at a young age stick with us for years, so it's right that children should not be taught superstitious nonsense.
quedula, brighton says...
9:02pm Sun 5 Jul 09
TheInsider wrote:It is theology that is nonsense, "like searching in a dark cellar at midnight for a black cat that isn't there".
Oh dear, do so-called intelligent people have nothing more useful to do with their brains.
Is it any wonder China and India are succeeding while the UK rots because our so-called boffins spend their time on this nonsense.
blockhead, brighton says...
9:29pm Sun 5 Jul 09
After that then maybe we can tell them that Fred Flintstone doesn't really power his car with this feet. Or they might possibly work this our for themselves, instead of being spoon fed the obvious.
cheezburger, brighton says...
9:56pm Sun 5 Jul 09
blockhead wrote:Fine, if you dont want them to learn about science until later on then thats fine, as long as they dont have mumbo jumbo fosited on them as well. Unfortunately thats how the religious take advantage of the young, before they are old enough to question.
No, primary school children need to be taught reading, writing and numeracy, to a high standard. So they don't lag behind and end up fed up with education and what it offers. After that then maybe we can tell them that Fred Flintstone doesn't really power his car with this feet. Or they might possibly work this our for themselves, instead of being spoon fed the obvious.
bibble, London (but visit Brighton regularly) says...
10:01pm Sun 5 Jul 09
Instead of lecturing about education it might be better if he actually did some.
I'm glad TheInsider mentioned China. They will have 600,000 new engineering graduates next year. We'll have mumbo-jumbo people like James Williams, who are on state salaries.
kkj, Brighton says...
10:18pm Sun 5 Jul 09
To suggest that they 'believe' cartoons like 'The Flintstones' and 'Barney' also suggests they believe rabbits and dogs can talk and elephants can fly. Is there any evidence that children believe any of this, and if so, at what they stop believing?
TheInsider, Brighton says...
10:33pm Sun 5 Jul 09
Some of these lecturers need a good kick up the rear end. The last nonsense was the idiot lecturer who announced that areas of the city had become studentified because students had moved in.
Please save us from this rubbish.
maxiboy, Brighton says...
9:11am Mon 6 Jul 09
Chicken and Beans, says...
9:28am Mon 6 Jul 09
maxiboy wrote:No.
It's the whole concept of God that is wrong not that "it" doesn't exist. What if God is a universal energy not a grey old man sitting on a throne! Could not "evolution" or "natural selection" still be God? Eat that one Professor. By the way I wouldn't mind doing a degree in the "Completely ridiculous and useless concepts. If I couldn't get a job I could always become a government minister.
Txa, B&H says...
9:54am Mon 6 Jul 09
Whitedot, says...
11:39am Mon 6 Jul 09
maxiboy wrote:Yes.
It's the whole concept of God that is wrong not that "it" doesn't exist. What if God is a universal energy not a grey old man sitting on a throne! Could not "evolution" or "natural selection" still be God? Eat that one Professor. By the way I wouldn't mind doing a degree in the "Completely ridiculous and useless concepts. If I couldn't get a job I could always become a government minister.
Andre Spooner, Brighton says...
12:02pm Mon 6 Jul 09
I'm going to go polish my horse.
Local Advertisers
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
cheezburger, brighton says...
8:23pm Sun 5 Jul 09