Creationism Will No Longer Be Taught in Ohio Schools
- By Elisa Meyer --
- 07 Sep 2016 --
Ohio schools have eliminated all references to intelligent design, creationism from the science curriculum.
Youngstown, Ohio schools CEO Crish Mohip has declared that his schools will no longer allow any non-scientific religious dogma to be taught. This decision comes after it came to light that popular Creationist Adnan Oktar had shown a video on the creationist theory in the Youngstown classrooms in Ohio. The Ohio school curriculum has required that teachers show a creationist video as part of the tenth grade education program. The video, “Cambrian Fossils and The Creation of Species“, depicts the creationist theory of the origin of life.
Creationism Will No Longer Be Taught in Ohio Schools[/tweetthis]
However, things are going to change across Youngstown schools with the new decision made by Mohip. The CEO said they will follow a curriculum that will be completely in line with the guidelines as laid down by the Education Department of Ohio. Ohio has directed schools and institutions to base their education completely on a scientific approach and to avoid religious and pseudo-scientific beliefs and theories altogether.
A new memorandum issued by the CEO states that starting from the new academic year 2016-17, all references to religious, paranormal, supernatural and other such non-scientific data will be completely eliminated. In addition to the removal of religious elements from the academic curriculum, they will also be replaced in co-curricular activities such as activities, discussions, video-viewing and games.
The Ohio State-based education is more centered on the scientific discoveries such as the Big Bang theory, which says the whole universe was once just a miniscule, highly compressed mass which eventually exploded. This explosion led to a gradual expansion in the elements of the “primordial atom,” which later on went to form the solar system as we know it. Darwin's evolutionary theory, along with the latest developments are also part of the state-recommended curriculum.
Teaching creationism, or intelligent design, is now explicitly and officially forbidden in the Youngstown City Schools, Ohio, USA.
— Ana Maria Palm (@AnaMariaPalm) September 7, 2016
With the new changes that Youngstown is set to undergo, lawsuits and protests by religious groups and institutions are expected to be directed towards the management. However, the CEO is confident that his decision is right as it is in accordance with the directives of Ohio's Education Department, and as such, perfectly legal. The teaching staff and other employees of the schools are currently being given proper instructions about their new responsibilities.
At a time when the religious are fighting for their rights to teach religious doctrines in schools, atheists are firmly putting up a resistance, the decision by the Youngstown CEO can come across as an iconic win for the latter.