Should Scientific Skepticism Be Kept Out of Public Schools?

Published May 3, 2012

PBS NewsHour and National Public Radio aired a segment last night on how public school teachers are becoming frustrated about students being skeptical of alarmist global warming claims. The segment showed how government-funded programs are providing teachers with tools to fight scientific skepticism.

While expressing her exasperation at students being skeptical of alarmist global warming theory, a public high school science teacher in Colorado said that the definition of a “scientific theory” is that it is the best possible explanation for an event and that it has already withstood challenge after challenge. 

So, should scientific skepticism be discouraged in high school science classes? You can watch the PBS NewsHour segment here and decide for yourself.

(NOTE: The video to the left in this story is for Heartland’s Seventh International Conference on Climate Change, from May 21 – 23 in Chicago. Please view and join us! But click the link in the text above to view the PBS NewsHour segment.)