Morrison 1 Cameron Morrison English 1- 1st block Mrs.

Knowles September 4, 2013 Evolution in Schools Evolution being taught in public schools has been an issue for many years. Some people think teaching evolution is no big deal and do not think it really has an effect on the learning students. Other people are against evolution being taught in school. Evolutions teachings and theories contradict the creationism theory that all things were created by a super-natural being. Both sides of this argument have strong opinions. This topic comes across as nothing serious or maybe even as stupid. I, however, think this is very interesting and pressing because it combines evolution, religion, and school all into the same topic and it causes confusion in students. In April of this year, I talked with one of my really good friends and the subject of how the world was created and how humans were created came up in our conversation. As we were having a discussion about religion, I finally asked her where she stood on the topic of creation and humankind coming to be. She seemed a little shocked and caught off guard at first, but then answered. She talked about how there are so many different theories; theories that ranged from the world and humans being a chemical reaction, to the world being formed by a super natural being. She seemed confused and a little unsure as we continued to talk about this. I told her about how creationism has facts that can be proven, yet evolutions theories have hardly any proven facts. She stated that she did not understand why schools taught evolution as the means of creation, if it were not factual I was not sure how to answer her question. We debated on creationism and evolution. Evolution had been taught in her school, and she was very confused.

Morrison 2 Because I feel so strongly about creationism, I tried to convince her that evolution was the wrong theory to base her life on. We sounded like mad people as we debated, but then answered each other with a question. At the end of conversation, I was left with the same question: why is evolution so highly leaned upon as the source of creation with so few facts? I was absolutely dumb founded by how she felt about evolution because of a science class. The Journal of Effective Teaching was made as a journal that is online and its main focus is to make teaching excellent. Their studies state that students leaving out of high school know more about evolution from their biology class than the other students who learned about evolution and creationism, or those who had no classes on evolution or creationism. This study shows evolution is a stressed subject in students classes. Evolution being taught in schools can and does have negative effects on the students learning about it. Students learn about evolution in schools then go home to parents and family members who tell them that creationism is the truth. This can have serious effects on the student. Confusion is the main negative effect that comes from this situation. Facts have also shown that many of evolutions theories have not been proven, but it is being taught as though they have been. Students are not only becoming confused by this teaching, but they are also being taught about a theory that is not fully proven. This topic on evolution being taught in school interests me because I agree that evolution should not be taught in schools. This teaching is not worth confusing students. Once students are confused and have heard so many different theories on humans coming to be, they begin to lose interest in creation and the beginning human life. I was also interested in the fact that evolution and creationism were the two that were compared to one another. One other thing that contributed to me being so interested in this topic is my own belief behind creation. I believe very strongly that creationism is the true theory out of every theory pondered or tested. If

Morrison 3 evolution is going to be taught, at least also teach creationism. This would at least help students not to be so confused. I truly believe that evolution should not be taught.