3 High School Discussions That End Right Where They Started
November 15, 2009 
5 Comments
We’ve all gotten into one of these. The instructor faces the classroom with an enormous life question, and, generally, the result is that, A) a couple long-winded kids ramble for an hour on their own opposing views, B) the answer is left to each individual’s moral opinion, or C) the teacher doubtfully regards the class’s assertions as uniformed noise.
In no way am I dismissing of this sort of discussion! It’s important that young students think outside the realm their everyday lives and take on ‘big’ questions like the ones to follow. But it’s interesting that the magnitude of such questions, typically, results in an intellectual stalemate that fosters few viable conclusions. Perhaps it is because such questions are ambiguous in nature, and necessitate ambiguous answers.
In any case, here are my three:
3. 
The origins of life and the universe
High school life science can get pretty dull and procedural: memorizing terms, hierarchies, diagrams, and the endocrine system of a frog. So sometimes, it’s nice to stop and look at the big picture. How did we get here? If the Big Bang caused all this, then what caused the Big Bang? It’s a question that humankind has tried to answer for centuries, with a myriad of different theories. A few kids might find themselves regressing into a total mind-warp and realizing the vastness of the universe, as they begin to question their own existence and origins. But, the intellectual progress that can be made in a high school classroom is dubious. Nonetheless, it’s still fun to hear that one kid in the back sheepishly invoke a supernatural power! This is biology, dude. Not theology.
2. Racism and stereotypes
It starts with a simple question: “Class, what is a stereotype?” A few answers will beat around bush, and then one ends up insinuating some sort of truth in societal assumptions based on external characteristics, ethnicity, or appearance. Suddenly, from across the room, the classroom moralists are inflamed by this cynic’s misanthropic musings. Once the discussion has digressed far enough into a referendum on the essential goodness of man and the negative ramifications Social Darwinism, the instructor endeavors for the rest of the period to refocus the dialogue. Don’t speak to soon in this one, or you may find yourself the target of a small-scale culture war.
1. 
Wait, you can’t divide by zero?
It’s the essential stupefaction of Algebra II. You can’t divide by zero. I was that kid in the back of the class who immediately threw up a red flag when we were told we couldn’t perform such a simple-sounding operation. If I have 5 cookies and divvy them up among zero groups, that’s zero cookies, right? Wrong. “Technically,” quips the brainiac in the back, “that would be infinite cookies!” (How sweet that sounds). If you’re luck, though, this diversion will force the teacher will postpone the test. The interesting thing about this question is that there is a right answer. It just takes a little calculus to procure – something an algebra teacher bound by a looming state test doesn’t quite have time to delineate.
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“This is biology, dude. Not theology.”
Ah… The age old question. Who made us and why? Too bad we never covered this in biology. It is also too bad that there is no good place in school to have these kinds of discussions, because I think that a class based solely on developing a good argument and supporting it with details would… wait. Isn’t that what research and debate is supposed to be? What happened there?
I think we just had one of these in AP US
So so True.
“Nonetheless, it’s still fun to hear that one kid in the back sheepishly invoke a supernatural power!”
That was my favourite part about Biology. There’s always that one kid.
“High school life science can get pretty dull and procedural”
TRUE
My personal favorite is the death penalty. It always, and I mean always, ends in a stupid heated and intense argument over whether its morally justifiable.