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An education in death and destruction Do you think students should be taught caring
 If
so, what sort of attitudes do you think school students learn from cutting
up animals for biology exercises? One Australian student who believes
it is wrong to exploit animals expresses it this way:
"Biology is the science of life, yet we are told that to study life we must mutilate dead animals who have been bred, born and killed in wire cages, and whose bodies we then throw into the garbage". Dissection contradicts the purpose of biology It indoctrinates students that animals are here for us to use and abuse. Studies show that students learn just as much from videos and computer simulations, without destroying life. All students have the right to refuse to do dissections. Demand to learn biology, the science of life, without causing death. There ARE alternatives! Dissection is not a legal or educational
requirement in Australian Schools. There are many alternatives
to the use of animals in teaching. These are just some of the wide
range now available: VIDEOS: These allow a flexible approach
to teaching and encourage student interaction, illustrating the
external organs and structure, the circulatory system, the respiratory
system, the digestive system and the urogenital system. A video,
unlike a dead animal, can be used again and again. COMPUTER SIMULATIONS:
To demonstrate the activity of nerves or muscles, or the effects
of various drugs. Some programs allow university students to carry
out ÒexperimentsÓ eg., to test the effects of various drugs on the
cardiovascular system. As a concerned citizen write to: See our interview
with Andrew Knight.
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What
can YOU do?As a student, explain to your teacher why you object
to animals being killed or harmed for your education and that you
would like to have available one of the many alternatives.