WILL
YOU HAVE A ‘JENIFER’?
The
previous philosophical arguments are no longer theoretical
once a student appears in your class who balks at what
have been routine exercises. Jenifer Graham, 15-years-old,
of Victorville, California, brought this to national prominence
when she voiced a moral objection to her biology course
requirement of dissecting a frog. Receiving a lower grade
after refusing to dissect, the A-student took the matter
to court. In August of 1988, a federal judge dismissed
the case and proposed a compromise test of Jenifer’s frog
anatomy knowledge “...using a frog that died of natural
causes.” (Orlans, 1988) This decision supported both the
student’s right to refuse to dissect and the school’s
right to “. . . insist on testing knowledge of frog anatomy
on a real frog.” Other students in New Jersey and elsewhere
have subsequently refused to dissect in biology class
and there has been an avalanche of policies restricting
animal use and dissection in classes, science fairs, and
other educational settings (see OTA, 1988, for examples).
GENERAL
STRATEGIES
Do
not engage in philosophical debates with students, parents,
and other parties. Philosophy is something philosophers
do; many of the "logical" systems developed
lead to conclusions that simply are not acceptable to
your students nor match with how the real world works.
As a science teacher, your job is to get students to
open their eyes and develop skills for solving problems
in the real world. The following are techniques that
are really required of you as a teacher and intellectual:
1)
A belief system should be internally consistent; it
should not propose a criterion in one area and violate
it in another. A student has a blanket rejection of
furs-but wears leather shoes? Is repulsed by the Draize
test-but wears makeup? Feels (incorrectly) that lab
use depletes and endangers the wild populations-but
eagerly participates in a transportation system that
is immensely more destructive to wild animals.
2)
Your understanding of science should be complete enough
to be internally consistent as well. If your college
education in biology is only 15 to 28 credit hours,
you are going to need a lot more coursework. (Some university
biology teacher programs do not even require anatomy
and physiology.)
3)
You do not need to "re-invent the wheel" by
research into primary sources in science and philosophy.
Read the Skeptical Inquirer and collect articles from
professional science and science education journals
(particularly the Journal of Biology Education) that
clarify the animal rights and dissection issue for your
students. Share problems and strategies with teaching
colleagues at KABT and KATS.
4)
Insist on validation and "ground truth." If
a student reads something controversial, have him/her
bring the article in so together you can address exactly
what is stated. For instance, some will claim that animal
research has not contributed to cures of human diseases.
If you have seen the NOVA film footage on the development
of penicillin, or the history of Pasteur, etc., you
can effectively and directly refute erroneous statements.
"How many in class have relatives with diabetes
who rely on insulin?" can rapidly force students
to realize the serious consequences of ignoring the
realities of animal research. "How do you know
to go to the doctor when you have a stomach pain . .
. if it is heartburn? . . . if it is appendicitis?"
helps students understand that the health of people
depends on the education level of patients as well as
on the training of doctors.
5)
And if you can afford the time, expand your reading
of the philosophy behind animal rights beliefs. However,
your knowledge of biology and the science process is
your first line of defense.
