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Bill 44 reminds me of why I love living in Alberta darn so much. Bill 44 is about parental choice:
Alberta’s controversial legislation that gives parents the option of pulling their children out of sexual education or religion classes they deem inappropriate or offensive will not affect how Catholic schools are run, board officials say.
Oh hey, fantastic. Having the option to be excluded from religious nuttery 101 is a good thing. The problem is that somehow in the topsy-turvey world of educational policy Science Education has been given the same status as Religious Studies. Parents who do not ‘believe’ in Evolution can have their children withdrawn from class using this same polished gem of legislation.
Set ignorance to 11!
Just to state the obvious Science and Religion are most certainly not the same thing. The critical thinking and skepticism that can be learned in science class are vital in shaping the minds of today’s youth. We do not need less critical thinking in the curriculum, but heaps more.
The short sighted nature of educational policy in Alberta aggravates me. This legislation is giving the delusional a means to further inoculate their children against Science and the rest of the modern world.
Well, Bill 44 has been passed into law.
What is Bill 44? Bill 44 is the ‘parental rights’ legislation that stipulates that parents have the right to pull their children out of contentious classroom situations. Topics such as Human Sexuality, Religion and Evolution have been mentioned as possible situations.
Bill 44 or “The Right to Remain Ignorant” bill has been postponed in its implementation. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reports that the culture minister Lindsay Blackett has delayed the legislation for some more fine tuning to allow the schools to as he puts it: “Our intention is certainly not to get school boards before the Human Rights Commission.”
Intentionally or not this legislation allows teachers to be brought before a HRC tribunal when discussion such controversial topics such as evolution and sexual education are included in a lesson without parental approval.
This is a gross neglect of public education in Alberta. I’ve already written about Bill 44 here when this particular travesty of Bill came out. I am hoping that the Alberta Government have realized the magnitude of the stupid (stupid burning so bright that it made it a mark on PZ Myers’s blog Pharyngula) that is in this bill and working to neuter it as quickly as possible.
Given the lovely conservative nature of the politics in this province, I highly doubt any significant revisions will be made.
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
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