New Science Curriculum Aims to Curb 'Animal Rights' Influence
Antimult...@somewhere.com
New Science Curriculum Aims to Curb 'Animal Rights' Influence
By Marc Morano
CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
October 28, 2003
(CNSNews.com) - A new science-based educational curriculum has been launched to help elementary and middle school students appreciate the role of science in their lives and to counter the animal rights-based curriculum known as humane education.
"Misinformation gets skewed into the spin of those types of [humane] curriculums, and all of a sudden, kids become zealots for a cause that they really don't completely understand, and they have never been given the whole picture," M. Sue Benford, executive director of the Ohio Scientific Education & Research Association (OSERA), told CNSNews.com.
OSERA is a member of the national group, States United for Biomedical Research, which currently has educational affiliates in 20 states.
Benford's group is introducing a science-based curriculum for 4th through 8th graders in 42 Ohio schools this fall. The curriculum, which Benford calls "fantastic," introduces students to scientific topics such as animal laboratory testing, diseases, health, food safety and the development of vaccines.
"A lot of times, kids don't even think that science relates to them. If you ask them what subject in school has absolutely no connection to real life, many of them will say science," Benford said.
The new science-based curriculum comes at a time when "humane education," which advocates say includes compassion for animals, awareness of environmental problems like so-called global warming and overpopulation, as well as non-violence, is expanding into the U.S. public school system.
Seventeen states now mandate aspects of the humane education curriculum, and two charter schools - one already open in Harmony, Fla., and another planned near Sacramento, Calif. - are devoted entirely to teaching the curriculum.
The humane education curriculum's emphasis on animal rights and welfare has prompted the Humane Society of the United States and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to support a new taxpayer-funded Humane Education Learning Charter School, which received approval earlier this month in California's San Juan Unified School District.
The planned charter elementary school in California will encourage students to "examine [their] cultural assumptions regarding the inherent value of different species and nature" and help them to "explore [their] responsibility toward earth and other human and non-human beings," according to the California-based New World Vision Institute, one of the supporters of the school's curriculum.
Benford is eager to challenge the animal rights aspects of humane education.
"There is a difference between us and them. We do not believe that animals have the same rights as humans," Benford said.
OSERA's curriculum advocates for animal laboratory testing and opposes animal rights, placing it at odds with much of what humane education teaches.
"Kids don't understand when they are contacted by animal rights organizations such as PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) or any of the other groups, for every cause there is an effect," Benford said, referring to what she sees as the great benefits of animal biomedical research.
"They don't understand that if someone goes in and destroys a laboratory where maybe 20 years of research has been underway to cure, let's say, smallpox or anthrax or cancer, somebody may die for that," Benford added.
But PETA fired back and accused Benford's group of "brainwashing kids."
"It's indicative of how desperate the apologists of vivisection have become that they are stooping to this level," said Alka Chandna, manager of PETA's campaign to end animal experimentation.
"They know perfectly well that children have a natural empathy for animals, and they know perfectly well that our message resonates very well with children for that reason," Chandna told CNSNews.com. "These are all things that are motherhood issues, and children understand those things," she added.
Chandna maintains that the benefits of animal medical testing have been greatly exaggerated and accused OSERA of "adding lies to the curriculum and brainwashing kids and obfuscating facts by oversimplifying."
"We are not rats. We are not mice. We are not dogs. We are not cats. We are human beings. We are different," Chandna said.
But Benford disagreed with PETA's contention that animal medical research is unnecessary. "I am one of the oldest childhood cancer survivors, so I learned at a very early age that scientific research and animal research goes into affecting real-life changes," she said.
Benford cited her daughter's 4th grade class as an example of how today's elementary school kids have already been indoctrinated into the animal rights ideology.
When the 4th grade teacher told the class that animals were used in research to produce modern medications, many students in the classroom said, "that's terrible, that's awful," Benford recounted. When the teacher asked, "Can you come up with an alternative - [the students] said, 'yeah, test it on old people,'" Benford said.
The students' reply, Benford said, proves that they lack understanding of the issue. "I think a lot of times, kids are targeted by those [animal rights] groups because they don't have that awareness," she said
--
JimB
http://www.geocities.com/UAM01
Union Against Multi-culturalism
Mark K
<Antimult...@somewhere.com> wrote in message
news:281003...@somewhere.com...
> New Science Curriculum Aims
> to Curb 'Animal Rights' Influence
> By Marc Morano
> CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
> October 28, 2003
> (CNSNews.com) - A new science-based
educational curriculum has been launched to
help elementary and middle school students
appreciate the role of science in their lives
and to counter the animal rights-based
curriculum known as humane education.
These yougsters need to learn the facts of life:
(1) There is a God-ordained food chain
(2) Every species must fend for itself.
(2) Might is Right.
(3) Athropocentricity is kosher
because we say so - and no
animal has objected to that.
che guevara
<se...@server.net> writes
>
><Antimult...@somewhere.com> wrote in message
>news:281003...@somewhere.com...
>
>> New Science Curriculum Aims
>> to Curb 'Animal Rights' Influence
>
>> By Marc Morano
>> CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
>> October 28, 2003
>
>> (CNSNews.com) - A new science-based
>educational curriculum has been launched to
>help elementary and middle school students
>appreciate the role of science in their lives
>and to counter the animal rights-based
>curriculum known as humane education.
>
>These yougsters need to learn the facts of life:
>
>(1) There is a God-ordained food chain
>
can you prove that : )
>(2) Every species must fend for itself.
>
>(2) Might is Right.
>
nonsense
>(3) Athropocentricity is kosher
> because we say so - and no
> animal has objected to that.
in order to object, they have to be able to understand your viewpoint.
che
Brian Sandle
Animals are the best friends of many people.
If we interfere with their lives callously it is but a short step to doing
the same to humans.
Dirk Bruere at Neopax
"Brian Sandle" <bsa...@shell.caverock.net.nz> wrote in message
news:10673797...@cobalt.caverock.co.nz...
>
> Animals are the best friends of many people.
>
> If we interfere with their lives callously it is but a short step to doing
> the same to humans.
Animal Rights are Human responsibilities.
--
Dirk
The Consensus:-
The political party for the new millennium
http://www.theconsensus.org
Brian Sandle
> "Brian Sandle" <bsa...@shell.caverock.net.nz> wrote in message
> news:10673797...@cobalt.caverock.co.nz...
>>
>> Animals are the best friends of many people.
>>
>> If we interfere with their lives callously it is but a short step to doing
>> the same to humans.
> Animal Rights are Human responsibilities.
When you take certain chicks from the nest before they are socially connected
to their parents then they may socially connect to the person, creature or
object they are kept with. But if the human does not interefere and leaves
the chick with its bird parents, then how can the bird's rights be a human
responsibility?
Peter W Watson
at Neopax <di...@neopax.com> writes
>
>"Brian Sandle" <bsa...@shell.caverock.net.nz> wrote in message
>news:10673797...@cobalt.caverock.co.nz...
>>
>> Animals are the best friends of many people.
>>
>> If we interfere with their lives callously it is but a short step to doing
>> the same to humans.
>
>Animal Rights are Human responsibilities.
"Rights" are human inventions whether appointed to men or animals.
--
Peter W Watson
Dirk Bruere at Neopax
Since Rights are a Human social construct they only apply to animals in
contact with Humans either directly or indirectly.
That includes intensive farms and battery hens.
Dirk Bruere at Neopax
"Peter W Watson" <pe...@pwwatson.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:d1BNaej7W6n$Ew...@pwwatson.demon.co.uk...
I totally agree.
And furthermore they only get extended to animals in the same manner they
are extended to other Human Beings - by consent if possible and force
otherwise. Of course, the equation is rather more lopsided in the case of
animals, but all that means is that the Human side must take on more
responsibility.
Brian Sandle
> "Brian Sandle" <bsa...@shell.caverock.net.nz> wrote in message
> news:10674129...@cobalt.caverock.co.nz...
>> Dirk Bruere at Neopax <di...@neopax.com> wrote:
>>
>> > "Brian Sandle" <bsa...@shell.caverock.net.nz> wrote in message
>> > news:10673797...@cobalt.caverock.co.nz...
>> >>
>> >> Animals are the best friends of many people.
>> >>
>> >> If we interfere with their lives callously it is but a short step to
> doing
>> >> the same to humans.
>>
>> > Animal Rights are Human responsibilities.
>>
>> When you take certain chicks from the nest before they are socially
> connected
>> to their parents then they may socially connect to the person, creature or
>> object they are kept with. But if the human does not interefere and leaves
>> the chick with its bird parents, then how can the bird's rights be a human
>> responsibility?
> Since Rights are a Human social construct they only apply to animals in
> contact with Humans either directly or indirectly.
> That includes intensive farms and battery hens.
A New Zealand Minister of Finance who brougth New Right policy to New
Zealand, greatly increasing unemployment and crime increased a lot, too,
also owned a battery system pig farm with the animals in the upper cages
dirtying the ones below I understood. I think pigs in the wild are rather
clean creatures.
Dirk Bruere at Neopax
The 'new right' seem to be an ugly bunch.
Brian Sandle
> "Brian Sandle" <bsa...@shell.caverock.net.nz> wrote in message
> news:10674666...@cobalt.caverock.co.nz...
>>
>> A New Zealand Minister of Finance who brougth New Right policy to New
>> Zealand, greatly increasing unemployment and crime increased a lot, too,
>> also owned a battery system pig farm with the animals in the upper cages
>> dirtying the ones below I understood. I think pigs in the wild are rather
>> clean creatures.
> The 'new right' seem to be an ugly bunch.
They use psychological public relations to try to make their self-serving
ways sell. With genetic modification in the USA they seemed to bring it
off. But farmers are protesting. In New Zealand we shall have to watch
them very closely. There are a few good scientists talking. It is hard for
them to get a living and at the same time investigate safety in genetics.
The new right philosophy demands science is funded to a large extent by
profits with obvious outcome.
che guevara
<pe...@pwwatson.demon.co.uk> writes
animal welfare or protection are adequate terms.
or maybe animals have a right' not to be maltreated by us. we say, or
assume, that humans are should be thus protected. why not other
species?
che
Brian Dooley
Certainly no oil paintings.
However, as I recollect, the pig farm went broke; which resulted
in much schadenfreude along the lines of, "Thought he could run
the country and he couldn't even run a fucking pig farm".
A bit unfair really because I think his brother was the manager.
--
Brian Dooley
Wellington New Zealand