Why We Should Be Teaching Intelligent Design to High School Students

College is most often thought to be the time when teenagers, in their transition to adulthood, begin researching and philosophizing new ideas. Through exposure to a great variety of new ideas, this is the time when teens come into their own without the guidance of parents. When reviewing high school, many of the liberal students, in following their political beliefs, are extremely independent of their parents. I have found that most of the younger generation who support conservative politicians do so on account of their parents' interests and contrary to their own. In analyzing the intelligent design debate, this plays an important role.

In opposition to the views of some parents, high school students should not be sheltered, especially in free-thinking. The problem with teaching religion is that there is usually no decision involved; children tend to follow in the path of their parents' beliefs. But everyone should have the choice to decide for themselves what they believe in faith. There is already so much animosity between religion (just look at Al Queda and the United States), the last thing the world needs is another generation of people coming through ignorant of the world's religions and how they intersect.

Through introducing not only the majority religion, but also minority beliefs, a better overall understanding and tolerance will form. Intelligent design should have a forum in high school to be discussed, but in the context of multiple faiths.

At an attendance of a play entitled The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial, an audience member posed a question about the intelligent design debates of today corresponding to the evolution debates of 1925. Should they be taught in public school? Throughout the play, which is centered around the trial of John Scopes, a high school biology teacher charged with illegally teaching the theory of evolution, it was evident by the emanations of both the live cheers and the added sound effects (which corresponded to the audience of the evolution era) that the audience of today is very much the opposite of the Scopes trial audience.