Current Event for the week of 3/19/07
Biology Teacher Fired for Referring to Bible
Recently in Oregon Kris Helphinstine a part-time high school biology teacher was fired after incorporating themes from the bible, things about Nazi Germany, and planned parenthood into his power points. Parents complained that the teacher didn't have the right to teach those things in the classroom and that he was preventing the students from learning what they really needed to know. In a phone interview Helphinstine said that all he was trying to do was teach students that there is bias in different sources and how to think critically.
Read the article here
What do you think about this situation? Do you think that the teacher was fired unfairly? Was this really a violation of church and state? Or do you perhaps think that the parents were right?
Recently in Oregon Kris Helphinstine a part-time high school biology teacher was fired after incorporating themes from the bible, things about Nazi Germany, and planned parenthood into his power points. Parents complained that the teacher didn't have the right to teach those things in the classroom and that he was preventing the students from learning what they really needed to know. In a phone interview Helphinstine said that all he was trying to do was teach students that there is bias in different sources and how to think critically.
Read the article here
What do you think about this situation? Do you think that the teacher was fired unfairly? Was this really a violation of church and state? Or do you perhaps think that the parents were right?
posted by phs_sociology at 6:52 PM
21 Comments:
It depends on the circumstances that aren't even specified in the article. Anyone can formulate an opinion, but in reality this whole situation with church and state is out of control. Now, if a teacher said "Jesus" they would be fired. I think ti was right for the teacher to show how biased is in different sources and how to think critically.
it think it all depends on what all is said. if it relates to the study of the lesson like if Jesus is just mentioned or the bible etc..it shouldnt be such a problem. i really dont think that he should have been fired for something like that. he was tring to make his point and no one felt insulted so why be fired for something like this.
I actually feel that separation between church and state was originally intended so that the church could worship freely without the infringement of the state. It was created so that peoples' right to worship would not be limited by the government. I'm not sure that the separation between church and state was ever actually intended to limit peoples' rights while in school. As such, I do not believe there was a real basis for firing this teacher-especially if all he was trying to show is how there is bias in different sources.
I think that a vital part of education is critical thinking. Especially in a controversial subject such as biology, all aspects and theories should be presented in a non-biased way. The article doesn't specify what the teacher included in his curriculum, but all subjects interact in one way or another. If he was presenting material in relation to other world events than he shouldn't be faulted for presenting various aspects of a topic.
Personally, I feel that students deserve to learn all sides of an argument in an unbiased manner. At this point in our education we are capable of choosing our own beliefs.
The way this man presented differences in opinion wasn't exactly unbiased on his part though. I believe that students should be taught both the theories of evolution and creationism in class, Helphinstine just presented it incorrectly.
Should he have been fired? No.
Was this a violation of Church and State? In the way Creationism was presented, yes.
I think the parents were justified in their anger, but it is unfair to a child's education to pretend like creationism isn't a theory and never mention it in class. In an educational environment all sides should be presented.
i think it is unfair but it is a rule they are suppose to follow. kids should be able to talk freely about the beliefs and relgion in schools they do it everywhere else dont they? but it is right the teacher should be fired bc she knows she can not talk about those things in school with her students.
i think the students deserve to know all the different aspects of stories because who says which way is right. everyone can view something a different way and still not be wrong. i think the students should just take the teachers opinion into consideration while making their own opinion. the whole church and state thing is out of hand anyways. i guess the teacher being fired was right because they obviously had to do something about it since it caused such a commotion.
I don't think that the teacher should be fired, because he was just incorperating the other perspective on the issue. The kids should believe what they want to believe. It was a violation of church and state, but he wasn't telling them what to do; he was letting them see the other side.
I think that even though those topics are very good demos of "bias" there are still other more perfectly good examples to use that arn't offensive. but people shouldn't be so up-tight about such things either.
I believe the teacher to be innocent. He was showing the students some interesting speculations on connections he thought existed between some seemingly-distant topics. The article (assuming it's accurate) conveys the students to be slightly less clever than I would expect the average freshman to be. If someone is teaching you something with some possible reasoning behind it, it should be next to nothing as far as effort spent on separating fact among the attempted explanations.
I don't understand why the bible is the only religious aspect that gets hell raisin everywhere! I know that if someone started talkin bout some other religion, I would have no idea what they were sayin, therefore, I would not listen to their OPINIONS about the subject. Yes while the teacher knew about the rules, the bible was simply being used as an example. He wasn't teaching what he thought everyone should believe. He was simply using it in a manner to show bias. So I really don't think that he should have been fired, just put on probation or a warning or something. And as for church vs state, I really dont know because I wasn't there to listen to the lecture, so I wouldn't be able to know.
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I think that everyone has the right to believe what they want and that the teacher should not include his feelings in his lessons but i dont think that he should have gotten fired over it. I think that as long as he was presenting the information in such a way that he was leaving it open for the students to form their own oppinions then he did not over step any boundries!
i do think that the teacher was fired unfairly. I do because he claims that he never taught creationism. However many teachers say their opinions on certain topics after they have taught what is 'said to be right'. The article does not fully explain what exactly Helpinstine had taught to the students. I also do not believe that it is a violation between church and state from the information given in the article.
I think that maybe the teacher did cross over a certain line only because the situation with church and state is becoming a large issue in the U.S. However, I do think that he was correct in teaching his students about biases. I do not think he should have been fired, maybe just spoken to about the concerns that were rising and resticted from speaking about the issue any further. If I was a parent, I don't think I would be that concerned because the kids are going to find out about different religion/views eventually.
We as students give our opinions everyday. Why can't teachers give their?? I think the whole bible thing and teaching about god in school is stupid. Why can't you be taught an religion at a public. I think that learning about all the different kinds whould make you more well rounded person. Just cause you learn about Religion dosen't mean you have to believe in it.
i think that he should be able to say and teach in any way he wants!! He's proving a point and teaching so what is the problem? peolpe dont like the name hilter? some ppl dont like the name Bush or Kennedy.
I do not think the teacher should have been fired over this. I think it's necessary for the teachers to show different perspectives from different sources, which would include the bible. I think it should be okay to teach from the bible and give their opinions as long as the teacher isn't trying to convert students to a certain religion. It should be okay if he was just making a point about things that are biased. I think the government would categorize this as a "violation between church and state", but I disagree and I think it's rediculous to make such a huge deal out of it.
I think a principal or some other advisors should've oversaw the lessons the teacher was teaching to see if he actually was teaching the critical thinking or just refering to the evolution. I think if he was teaching about creationism and such, then it was a violation of church and state.
I think it is crazy what the teachers teah=ch now because they are teaching the wrong material then that is what the children learn then america wonders why they are so dumb. Maybe it is because the teachers don't teach the right material. I'm not saying all teachers do this but most of them do. Most school systems are like that. As far as this teacher goes I think if you have certain things that are not permitted then you should obide by those rules. Just as in every job there are rules that must be followed or your fired, just what happened in this teachers case. thats ashame...
I don't believe that the school board had any right to fire him. If he was telling the truth, and was really just trying to teach critical thinking, then there would be no problem with mentioning the bible. Also, the father of the freshman girl saying that this teacher was "confusing" her, doesn't have any idea what he's talking about. She doesn't understand the theory of evolution, so that obviously means they need to fire her biology teacher
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