During the March for Science event in Cincinnati last month, one of the local speakers was 12-year-old Kelly Helton. She gave a wonderful speech talking about the importance of scientific literacy and evidence-based education.
The video just went up online and it’s definitely worth a few minutes of your time.
Some of my past teachers, when talking about the Big Bang theory and evolution, have told us these are just theories and we can believe what we want. How can you teach something you don’t even understand?
If you are teacher, here are some of the things we want to learn:
The Earth is over 4.5 billion years old — and it is not flat, either!
We want to learn about evolution from Richard Dawkins and Charles Darwin, not Ken Ham.
We want to get our vaccination information from places like Children’s Hospital, not Jenny McCarthy.
Exemptions for public schools should be made based on your medical history and not your beliefs.
Neil deGrasse Tyson says: The good thing about science: It is true whether or not you believe in it.
When it comes to sex education, we want medically and scientifically accurate information. You cannot teach us about sex by telling us not to have it. Why do people think that educating us is harmful?
Humans are the main reason for climate change. Bringing a snowball to the Senate floor during winter does not disprove climate change.
We cannot work on solutions to our problems until we agree on the facts. The scientific method is the best method we have. Once you try bringing the supernatural into the equation, it is no longer science.
We want science and we want it now.
What do we want?! (Science!)
When do we want it?! (Now!)
What do we want?! (Science!)
When do we want it?! (Now!)
What do we want?! (Science!)
When do we want it?! (Now!)
Carl Sagan once said, “I don’t want to believe. I want to know!”
We want to get our science information from scientists! We do not want your agenda. We do not want your politics. We do not want your beliefs. We want unadulterated science. We need science from our scientists, not silence.
I’d like to quote my friend Bill Nye the Science Guy: Science is the key to the future, and If you do not believe in science, you are holding everyone else back.
The oceans are rising, and so shall we. Welcome to the Resistance!
Kelly has often spoken up about perceived injustices. In November, she talked about how she got her public school choir to stop singing overtly religious music. She also got students in her class to remain seated for the Pledge of Allegiance because of the words “Under God.” And in March, she talked about the need for comprehensive sex education.
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