Curious to know your reaction to this news story.
A neurosurgeon in Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania was asked to speak to his son's fifth grade class about a 1875 painting depicting a surgical procedure. To illustrate several points, he brought with him a cadaver arm, which he opened at one point in the discussion to show students nerves, tendons and other parts. There was no blood.
One kid passed out and was sent to the nurse's office. Another five (of the 66 students present) left the classroom at various points because of the strong smell of formaldehyde.
About ten parents in the affluent Pittsburg suburb called school board members to complain. "[I]n hindsight, probably a letter should have been sent home and we will be doing that in the future," a district spokesperson said.
Pa. Boy Faints at Sight of Cadaver's Arm [Yahoo News.]
My own take on this is that the parents are overreacting and the district should do a better job defending the doctor. What's next, the parents have to send in permission slips for their kids to watch filmstrips about animal dissection? Part of the compromise of public education is that your kid gets exposed to things he wouldn't if you were homeschooling him. But that doesn't mean education policy should be set to the Pussiest Common Denominator. Especially when it comes to science and literature. I'll bet one of those kids whose parents think the presentation was "too graphic" for their child will think about going to med school because of what em learned that day. Your thoughts? Am I being too harsh because my nieces around that age would probably have been poking at the arm and saying "Cool!"?
