Teaching Both Sides

Most of what students learn about is what their teachers force them to read.  If a teacher assigns a reading on how Columbus discovered America, they are most likely to believe that Columbus was the first one to reach America and completely ignore the fact that there were previous inhabitants. Of course when students get older and wiser, they learn to think for for themselves. But what happens when students only learn one side of the story?

What teachers choose and choose not to show there students greatly affects how students perceive the world and history. One issue that I have with school is that usually only one side is showed (not to say that this is always the case). Recently, I was assigned to read The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution by Sean B. Carroll for my AP Biology Class. This book focuses on evolutionary history and provides factual evidence as to how natural selection allows for evolution to occur over time.

While I really enjoyed reading this book and learned more about evolution, I can hear the other side of me crying out, "Hey! What about the side that says evolution doesn't exist?" I do believe in evolution, and can see how evolution fits in with the history of the world. But I am simultaneously interested in the other side. Why can't evolution exist? What are the counter examples to evolution?

I understand that it is a science class and my teachers job isn't to present the other side. But religion does play a role in science, just as ethics does. I can't help but wonder if we lived in a predominantly/extremist Christian or even deeply religious area if the curriculum would be different. Would I even be allowed to read this book in school? To what degree does the majority religion influence education?

This also speaks to how society has become more liberal. Society is changing, evolution is more widely accepted, but this doesn't mean only one side should be taught.

The Changing of Language

Language is constantly being changed. New words are added because of technology, the youth, and pop culture, aka slang. In fact, the change of language over time is called diachronic change. While some words in a language stay the same, others are transformed, shortened, and cut out altogether based on the people that use it. English is a prime example for this.

One word that has demonstrated a change in “gonna,” as opposed to going to. This word is prevalent in new music and the youth’s language. What does this say about our use of English when people are using the incorrect form of a word, and don’t even realize they are doing
it? When it comes to writing, there is auto-correct. But in real life, what you say is what you get. If a teenager is in a college interview and uses this language, they will look unprofessional and immature.

For a list/explanation of more
changed words: http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/

I think part of the problem in misuse of words in society today is due to technology. Teenagers instant message, send emails, talk on Facebook, video chat, etc. There is a social pressure to use these technologies, and if you don’t you won’t be able to understand your peers because “they are all doing it.” There is also less reading and writing than there used to be. And instead of handwriting essays, we type them on the computer. We don't learn how to properly spell words because the computer does it for us. Also, our vocabularies aren’t as complex because we do not give ourselves a chance to enrich them. But we do not have ourselves solely to blame for this.

Personally, school and extracurriculars take up the majority of my time. If I am not doing homework, I am at practice or at a meeting. The only reading I have time to do is for school. And when you have 50 or so pages to read a night, it is hard to fit in a book that you want to read.

The change in our language is a multifaceted problem that cannot be stopped because it is already engrained in our culture. Our lives are so busy already that we do not even notice it happening unless we take a step back and think about it. To all my teenagers out there: don’t worry too much about it. You will read a lot in college and have a lot of time to build up that vocabulary of yours.

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