How to “Smart Mob” against Creationism in Textbooks (video)

Monday, 8 December 2008 Clay Burell Print This Post

Picture this: enterprising students in cities in Texas, particularly, and other cities nationwide – along with counterparts in Romania, which just mandated a Creationism-only science curriculum (I kid you not), and maybe Turkey, for good measure – organize Smart Mobs to strike, peacefully and simultaneously, out of the blue to demand only 21st century science – yes, I mean evolution – be included in their biology and other science textbooks.

And they do it quickly, before Texas’ Creationist-dominated Board of Education votes next Spring to insert Creationism yet again into its science standards. (See this post.)

They happen at such places as the Texas capitol building, the lobbies of textbook publishers’ headquarters, science museums, the national capitol, and wherever else seems like a good idea.

And they simply follow the steps of this excellent video (h/t to the Personal Democracy Forum):

And, because they’re good, peaceful citizens showing the will and responsibility to act for the education they deserve, the students who organize these events (more than once, please) include this as a bullet on their college application, to show that they’re more original and more consequential than the herd that joins the schooly National Honor Society and such. And the admissions officers at the best colleges see that bullet, and place their applications in the acceptance pile.

And they live actively and powerfully ever after.

If Obama’s doing it, kids, maybe it’s something you should consider as worth your time to learn. It might just help your future more than a couple hundred extra points on your SAT.

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The entry 'How to “Smart Mob” against Creationism in Textbooks (video)' was posted on December 8th, 2008 at 10:16 pm and last modified on December 15th, 2008 at 6:36 pm, and is filed under Networked Learning, citizenship 2.0, global collaboration, lessons, politics, project-based learning, school reform, science, social networking, student 2.0, tutorial, video, web2.0. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

7 Responses to “How to “Smart Mob” against Creationism in Textbooks (video)”

Sean Nash writes:
No. 1 — December 8th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Wow. Every human in Romania needs to read Dubner & Levitt’s Freakonomics. This seems like a massively-ignorant move approaching the level of Ceausescu’s reform of abortion laws.

The book makes a really solid case for the fact that his total and complete ban on all forms of abortion ultimately led to the creation of a generation of kids with terribly substandard human care. …the very same generation that publicly executed him.

Anyway- cool video and appropriate post.

Sean

Sean Nashs last blog post..Inspire First, Instruct Later

Reply
Clay Burell Reply:
December 9th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Interesting point, Sean. Funny how these “do something” posts seem to go nowhere. But who knows.

Reply
Secular Extremism: Smart Mob for Evolution Education « relationary writes:
No. 2 — December 10th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
[...] – Clay Burrell, how to smart mob against creationism in textbooks [...]
A Blog Around The Clock : How to organize a Smart Mob writes:
No. 3 — December 11th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
[...] instance, to protest Creationist bills in state and local [...]
Imbecilitatea anului 2008 | Sorin Tudor writes:
No. 4 — December 12th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
[...] Precizari: 1. Nu sunt interesat in niciun fel de disputele creationism vs. evolutionism. Tot ce vreau sa spun este ca elevilor ar trebui sa li se permita sa opteze – in cunostinta de cauza! – daca vor sa se situeze intr-o tabara sau in alta; 2. Cand altii ne iau la misto pe nedrept, se umfla mamaliga in noi (ex: aici si aici). Dar ce facem cand ne iau la misto pe buna dreptate (vezi aici si aici)? [...]
Bush Accepts Evolution, not a “Literalist” (video) | Beyond School writes:
No. 5 — December 15th, 2008 at 4:33 am
[...] In case you missed the post on Smart Mobbing against creationism in U.S. science textbooks – my, how I’d love to see high school students jump on this idea – the post is here. [...]
Reply to Gary Stager’s HuffPo Post on Duncan | Beyond School writes:
No. 6 — December 20th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
[...] I’ve been thinking the same thing since I began watching the Texas Board of Edu-Creationism try to jimmy Genesis into science classes and, worse yet, textbooks nationwide (Texas standards wag the national textbook industry dog: if Texas votes to deny Darwin, all the science textbooks will aim to please. I still pray somebody stateside takes on the Smart Mobs idea to protest this putsch). [...]