Woman pushes to let students drop dissections
Janet Steffenhagen
CanWest News Service
January 12, 2005

VANCOUVER -- High school students should have the right to refuse when teachers invite them to dissect frogs, pigs or even grasshoppers, says a Vancouver woman lobbying for a "student choice" policy.

Lesley Fox will make her case to school trustees today, arguing the lack of policy in Vancouver-area school districts means students may feel compelled to cut up animals and insects even when they oppose the practice for moral or religious reasons.

She acknowledged teachers often excuse those who are clearly distressed at the prospect of dissection, but said she believes many other students participate because they think they don't have a choice.

Fox wants Vancouver to become the first major city in Canada to develop a policy that guarantees students a choice between dissection and an alternative, such as using plastic models or CD-ROMs featuring virtual dissections.

"Dissection is simply inappropriate for many students because they have deeply held feelings of compassion and respect for animals," she says in her submission to trustees.

"There is also a growing objection to the cruelty involved in raising and killing animals for dissection."

Fox, who attended school in Ontario, said she well remembers her feelings of revulsion a decade ago in Grade 11 when asked to dissect a pig fetus and again in Grade 12 when frogs were dissected.

"I remember feeling absolutely horrid, and I felt guilty. I didn't feel that I could talk to my teacher, because she seemed to be in favour of it. For her, it was no big deal," Fox said in an interview this week.

"In the pit of my stomach, I knew it was wrong, but I didn't say anything."

A student-choice policy would empower students to speak out and ensure they don't have to compromise their values, she said, adding it might also keep students who love animals interested in science.

Trustee Andrea Reimer, who has helped Fox bring her proposal forward, says she has heard concerns about dissections from students.

"That comes up with some frequency," she noted.

Reimer hasn't decided whether she will vote in favour of a student choice policy, but said she is leaning in that direction.

"High school is a time when students are developing values and it's worth having the discussion," she said.