In my science class, this year, Dissecting is part of the curriculum...?!
I am a Vegetarian, introducing myself to Veganism and I do not want ANY part in Dissecting a LIVE animal.
My teacher said that I will atleast have to be in the room and watch and take notes.
I don't even want to do that. I don't want the event to take place at all... :[
How do I politely ask my teacher to excuse me from the whole ordeal?
Thank you so much!
peace and love. [;
Answers: I had just found this out.
I am a Vegetarian, introducing myself to Veganism and I do not want ANY part in Dissecting a LIVE animal.
My teacher said that I will atleast have to be in the room and watch and take notes.
I don't even want to do that. I don't want the event to take place at all... :[
How do I politely ask my teacher to excuse me from the whole ordeal?
Thank you so much!
peace and love. [;
A live animal??? I didn't know schools still did that. I had to dissect a dead fetal pig when I was in high school, it was pretty gross. If you took anatomy, you had to dissect a dead cat! And I saw the teacher pushing a cart across the quad one day and one of them fell out lol. Anyway, ya talk to your teacher and see if there is an alternative to do, like writting a paper. If you feel that strongly about and she/he won't budge, go talk to the counselor at school. If nothing works, might just have to tought it out for a day and get it done with. If that happens, wear all black that day and wear a sign around your neck that says "I don't support the cause of dissecting animals". Haha good luck !!!!
i doubt that you will dissect a live animal. im sure its dead already. however when ive faced dissection in about 2-3 classes, the teachers do normally give you the option to not participate in it.....however, if youre in college, it may be required. if you are required to do so, im guessing it will be a group project, and therefore i would just let your other group members do more of the actual dissection, and see if you can take on some other roles of the project. good luck!
tell her you'll vomit.
when i was in school long ago we had to dissect live frogs but i am of the understanding that you now do on the computer virtually , is your school still in the low tech mode? good luck with that.
If you're still in high school and it's a public school than by law they have to offer you a different project/assignment to get the points. They can't make you even be in the room for it. Talk to your principal.
If you're in college and it's public, like a community or state college, I *think* the same applies. Good luck. Fight for your rights.. keep moving up the chain of command until you get what you want.
Write a formal letter and take it to the principal and give a copy to your teacher to let them know how serious you are. I went through the same thing in high school when my bio class was dissecting fetal pigs. Needless to say, I wanted nothing to do with it. Sometimes, when it comes for standing up for what you believe in, you can't always get away with being polite. It seems like you tried that and it didn't work. If they don't take you seriously, you'll have to exclude yourself.
I suggest checking out http://www.petakids.com/disindex.html as it gives information about talking to teachers about not dissecting.
Many teachers are reasonable and will work with you. There are plenty of dissection alternatives, such as virtual dissection. Ask if you can do one of these, you will learn the same thing as if you doing it on the real thing.
If your teacher refuses to let you opt out of dissecting than make an appointment with the principal and speak with them. Be sure to give yourself enough time to make an appointment(it can sometimes take a week or so to see them).
uh, i think any teacher leading a class in a live dissection nowadays would likely be arrested. vivisection is hard enough to get permission for on a limited number of animals on a one time basis, if you have a valid, hard medical reason for having to do it. for a class demo, unlikely.
having had to apply scalpel to flesh a few times at university, i can say the unfortunate animals were all long since dead, and all either bought from (or surplus from) the normal stock of local butchers and fishmongers, or laboratory supply companies, and won't really be anything you could wear on your conscience as they weren't killed bespoke for your practical.
however it was an unpleasant experience and one i've held since to be of very questionable value even at college level let alone school (except for the lesson of 'wow, this is very difficult to cut, and everything looks roughly the same as everything else...'), so i can see where you are coming from even if it's for different reasons. though i wouldn't often condone such behaviour, you could just cut class (go hide in the toilets on a reasonably plausible defense of feeling too sick to stay in the room) and borrow a friend's notes to copy up.
also, virtual dissections were coming to the fore even when *I* was at school (moved on, at 18, in 1999), so i'm surprised they haven't gained mass popularity yet... see if you can get permission just to work thru an online one in the library
ask the school.. those are your beliefs.. they need to respect that
http://www.hsus.org/animals_in_research/...
This site will tell you all the states that have laws against animal dissection and what they are. Hope yours is on the list. :)
In most states, they only have to let you out of it if you have RELIGIOUS objections. Moral objections are not valid.
Get your parents to write a note, and see if it works. Tell your teacher you are willing to study the equivalent material from pictures of the animals.
just say thast it strongly goes against your beliefs, im pretty sure that then they are not actually aloud to make you, like they are not allowed to make you take RE. it worked for me, so give it a try.
You don't have to be in the room. A letter stating your moral objection will be enough. Schools accept it.
If they don't, turn up to class and fall on the floor in a blubbering wreck. They will change thier mind next time a veggie asks. Its not confrontational, you are not criticising them or the other students, you'll just be showing you cannot aggree with it, and afterall, that was the point you tried to make in the letter they rejected. They will learn for next time
When I was in High School, I told my teacher it was against my beliefs and I was excused. You have your teacher's answer already. Go to the principal next. If that doesn't work, go to the media. I'm sure some nice, bloodsucking attorney will offer to sue the school district for you. Even if you don't follow through with the lawsuit, it will be enough to keep you out of the class during the dead animal lessons.
I had the same problem. Except my teachers actually wanted me to take part in it, just watching wasn't enough. I tried politely explaining why I didn't want to. They just laughed and told me I would do like everyone else and shut up about it (basically). So I just left the room. I hope it doesn't come to that with you. Try talking it over with your teacher. Be firm, anyway. Stick to your believes, and if she really doesn't want to hear you out, just leave. She can't make you do it, don't worry.
Most schools do it on a computer. I don't think they use LIVE animals if it's done on an animal in classroom anyways.
If you are in high school and go to such an outdated school, you must not be from an affluent community. If you are in high school in such a community, how could you afford to buy a farm?
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...
You should really participate in this portion of the class. It will teach you that you can't make up excuses to get out of every little thing in life that you don't like. We all have to grow up sometime.