4 ms·

I find it funny and sad that in 21st century we still have to explicitly prohibit such thing. Up next -- "Tooth faery theory banned from dental schools".

by kbart 11y ago

Sharlin 11y ago
It was not banned. It was never permitted in the first place, or more accurately, the issue was never even raised before this. A special interest group asked the government to ban it, the government answered that of course it's not allowed in science class as it's not science, there's nothong that has to be done, the group decided to interpret the matter-of-factly reply as "banning". There was no administrative action involved.
- pjc50 11y ago
  I don't know why this got a downvote as it's an accurate summary of the article.
- peteretep 11y ago
  15-16 years ago it was being taught as a "some people think this happened instead of evolution lol" for GCSE biology.
wbillingsley 11y ago
There's nothing in the article to suggest they actually did have to (quite the contrary -- the government had been replying for ages that there wasn't a need for a ban). Perhaps I'm cynical, but it seems to have gone like this... "Minister, when will the Government ban bandersnatches from school cupboards?" "Um, I'm pretty sure there aren't any bandersnatches in the school cupboards..." "Minister refuses to ban bandersnatches from school cupboards! Everyone, sign our petition to insist that school cupboards are no place for a bandersnatch, and join our team!" "I really don't think we have any..." "The government is still refusing to institute a proper ban on keeping them in school cupboards, and putting our children's education at risk! Like us on Facebook! Tweet our campaign link! With your help we can make them move on this!" "But we really... oh, forget it, fine, we hereby ban bandersnatches from school cupboards, will you go away now please?" "Hooray! Thanks to our campaign, the government has finally banned bandersnatches from school broom cupboards. This is why you should donate to us -- remember, we're the organisation that finally made the government ban bandersnatches from school cupboards, and you can make your donation to us at this address..."
- dghf 11y ago
  The government argued there was no need for a ban because it trusted teachers' judgement, but in at least one primary school, that trust was misplaced: the principal invited an evangelical group in to preach to the children and hand out books that taught creationism as scientific fact. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/parents-outrage-extremist-religious-sect-2254926 http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/parents-outr...
- DanBC 11y ago
  There's an English public school chemistry teacher who believes in creationism and young earth. Here's a clip of him talking to Dawkins. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xdlfm8_creationist-teacher-nick-cowan_news http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xdlfm8_creationist-teacher-... They might not allowed to teach creationism as part of the national curriculum but there are creationists in English schools and it's probably useful to have laws preventin them fromteaching creationism as science.
itsybitsy 11y ago
If you're comparing creationism to the tooth fairy, it's fair to point out that the alternate scientific theory is that we magically appeared out of nothing, like Dr. Who's telephone box. I'm not arguing for either theory, and certainly not arguing for the teaching of creationism in schools.
- mikeash 11y ago
  I assume that when you say "I'm not arguing for either theory" that you're attempting to come across as balanced in some way. Which is sad, because not arguing for the theory with a massive weight of evidence behind it is completely ridiculous. I'm not sure whether you're referring to the Big Bang or abiogenesis when you say "magically appeared out of nothing," but either way, there's a great deal of evidence that these events did actually happen, even if the exact mechanism for how it happened is not known. In contrast, creationism is outright fiction, like Star Wars or Harry Potter. There really is not any middle ground here.
- Oletros 11y ago
  > the alternate scientific theory is that we magically appeared out of nothing Evolution doesn't have anything to do with the origin of life
- copsarebastards 11y ago
  > If you're comparing creationism to the tooth fairy, it's fair to point out that the alternate scientific theory is that we magically appeared out of nothing, like Dr. Who's telephone box. If that's your understanding of evolution, it's fair to point out that maybe if you hadn't been taught creationist lies, that time could have been spent teaching you evolution, which you clearly needed more time learning, since you don't understand it.

I find it funny and sad that in 21st century we still have to explicitly prohibit such thing. Up next -- "Tooth faery theory banned from dental schools".

by kbart 11y ago

I find it funny and sad that in 21st century we still have to explicitly prohibit such thing. Up next -- "Tooth faery theory banned from dental schools".

Sharlin 11y ago

It was not banned. It was never permitted in the first place, or more accurately, the issue was never even raised before this. A special interest group asked the government to ban it, the government answered that of course it's not allowed in science class as it's not science, there's nothong that has to be done, the group decided to interpret the matter-of-factly reply as "banning". There was no administrative action involved.

pjc50 11y ago
I don't know why this got a downvote as it's an accurate summary of the article.
peteretep 11y ago
15-16 years ago it was being taught as a "some people think this happened instead of evolution lol" for GCSE biology.

wbillingsley 11y ago

There's nothing in the article to suggest they actually did have to (quite the contrary -- the government had been replying for ages that there wasn't a need for a ban). Perhaps I'm cynical, but it seems to have gone like this... "Minister, when will the Government ban bandersnatches from school cupboards?" "Um, I'm pretty sure there aren't any bandersnatches in the school cupboards..." "Minister refuses to ban bandersnatches from school cupboards! Everyone, sign our petition to insist that school cupboards are no place for a bandersnatch, and join our team!" "I really don't think we have any..." "The government is still refusing to institute a proper ban on keeping them in school cupboards, and putting our children's education at risk! Like us on Facebook! Tweet our campaign link! With your help we can make them move on this!" "But we really... oh, forget it, fine, we hereby ban bandersnatches from school cupboards, will you go away now please?" "Hooray! Thanks to our campaign, the government has finally banned bandersnatches from school broom cupboards. This is why you should donate to us -- remember, we're the organisation that finally made the government ban bandersnatches from school cupboards, and you can make your donation to us at this address..."

dghf 11y ago
The government argued there was no need for a ban because it trusted teachers' judgement, but in at least one primary school, that trust was misplaced: the principal invited an evangelical group in to preach to the children and hand out books that taught creationism as scientific fact. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/parents-outrage-extremist-religious-sect-2254926 http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/parents-outr...
DanBC 11y ago
There's an English public school chemistry teacher who believes in creationism and young earth. Here's a clip of him talking to Dawkins. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xdlfm8_creationist-teacher-nick-cowan_news http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xdlfm8_creationist-teacher-... They might not allowed to teach creationism as part of the national curriculum but there are creationists in English schools and it's probably useful to have laws preventin them fromteaching creationism as science.

itsybitsy 11y ago

If you're comparing creationism to the tooth fairy, it's fair to point out that the alternate scientific theory is that we magically appeared out of nothing, like Dr. Who's telephone box. I'm not arguing for either theory, and certainly not arguing for the teaching of creationism in schools.

mikeash 11y ago
I assume that when you say "I'm not arguing for either theory" that you're attempting to come across as balanced in some way. Which is sad, because not arguing for the theory with a massive weight of evidence behind it is completely ridiculous. I'm not sure whether you're referring to the Big Bang or abiogenesis when you say "magically appeared out of nothing," but either way, there's a great deal of evidence that these events did actually happen, even if the exact mechanism for how it happened is not known. In contrast, creationism is outright fiction, like Star Wars or Harry Potter. There really is not any middle ground here.
Oletros 11y ago
> the alternate scientific theory is that we magically appeared out of nothing Evolution doesn't have anything to do with the origin of life
copsarebastards 11y ago
> If you're comparing creationism to the tooth fairy, it's fair to point out that the alternate scientific theory is that we magically appeared out of nothing, like Dr. Who's telephone box. If that's your understanding of evolution, it's fair to point out that maybe if you hadn't been taught creationist lies, that time could have been spent teaching you evolution, which you clearly needed more time learning, since you don't understand it.