Dissections in school
Those bumper stickers that parents sport on their vehicles—“Proud Parent of an Honor-Roll Student,” “Proud Parent of a Great Kid,” etc.—are pretty ubiquitous, and they don’t tend to register with me very much. But the other day, I got behind a car with a bumper sticker I hadn’t seen before: “Proud Parent of a Kid Who Won’t Dissect.”
After an initial reaction of “Right on!” I started thinking about my own experiences with dissection in school. One of the classes we had to take in middle school, as part of Vocation Education, was Agriculture. As part of the class, we traveled to a local pig farm, where the “highlight” of the trip was watching a pig be castrated. Later that term, the teacher dissected a pregnant cat in front of the class. In both instances, I stayed as far away from the action as I could.
I was in 8th grade at the time, and I don’t think I had even heard of being a vegetarian. I’d certainly never heard of a child being able to refuse to watch or participate in a dissection. I just knew I didn’t like it or want to see it. The cat dissection particularly distressed me, since I adored and had cats (I still do!); the fact that it was a pregnant cat with little fetal kittens inside added to the trauma.
I was next confronted with dissection as a senior in high school. As part of my advanced biology class, we had to dissect a worm, a crayfish and a fetal pig. It certainly wasn’t pleasant, but I did it, because I assumed I had to.
I don’t know how often the choice is put to students these days of whether they can opt out of dissections with no grade repercussions. I assume it probably varies by school district and even by teacher, but it certainly seems more accepted than it did when I was in school.
I’d love to know if any of you readers—or your children—have refused to take part in a dissection. If so, what happened?
