In the interest of full disclosure, I have eaten bugs. I was in Cambodia on a human trafficking awareness mission. A woman was selling roasted crickets, and I bought a bag for a buck and ate one or two. Maybe three. I always believe in trying new dishes so I thought, “Why not?” They weren’t half bad. A little heavy on the salt and soy sauce. And to be honest, I wouldn’t eat a bowl full of them while watching football. But they were alright. That said, I have two steaks marinating in the fridge right now that are headed to grill this evening. The upshot is, I have tried eating ze bugs. I know whereof I speak when I say I’ll take a pass. I’ll take a cheeseburger every time. Except on steak night. Which is tonight.
But of course, there are those who have been baptized into the First Church of Climatism. Some, if not most of these folks I think, enjoy the power that comes with posturing, hectoring, and bossing people around under the banner of saving the planet. In fact, I am convinced that 75% of climate outrage is the product of people getting in touch with their inner totalitarian. With that in mind, we take you to Spring Canyon Middle School in Springville, Utah. As part of an English assignment, teacher Kim Cutler purchased bugs approved for human consumption from a website and gave them to her students. It was part of an assignment on–what else? Climate change. The premise was that cows, which produce methane, are depleting the ozone layer and should be replaced with ze bugs. According to Fox News, the school issued the following statement, “Middle schoolers loved the ‘ewww’ factor, many of them gave bugs a try (and even a few staff members!). Many thanks to our English teachers for creating fun and engaging lessons.” And the kids may have had a fine time since middle school students are still young enough to enjoy icky stuff and it was probably a fun change of pace from the usual lesson plan.
However, there was also an essay assignment. For the essay, students were told that they could only argue for eating bugs and against eating beef, since cow flatulence poses a dire hazard to said ozone layer and life on Mother Earth. According to Ms. Cutler, there is no evidence to support eating beef over bugs and thus any pro-beef argument cannot exist. Well, there are other points of view, whether Ms. Cutler chooses to acknowledge them or not. What seems to be the case here is that the evidence Ms. Cutler likes is the only evidence that should be considered, and she has appointed herself the Holy Arbiter of Facts. One mother, Amanda Wright, was concerned that children were being indoctrinated into the religion of climate change and talked with the principal about how her daughter was not given the chance to create a rebuttal or discuss the other side of the issue. The principal, Alison Hansen, said that the assignment was about finding facts. Cutler stated, “All the evidence has suggested, that we probably should be eating bugs – it’s good for the environment, etc. But I didn’t know that that was an offensive topic to indicate.” Exploring and even debating climate change is not offensive. Telling students that there can be no other point of view is extremely problematic. Fox News had this from a video taken by a student:
Student: “How come we can’t state our opinion and write that we shouldn’t be eating bugs?”
Cutler: “Because we don’t have any evidence to support it. It’s kind of weird that I gave you a topic where there is only one right answer. We don’t want to eat bugs and it’s gross. But should we be eating bugs? Yeah, because we’re killing the world by raising cows and animals. So we need to, not get rid of cows, but like, try to balance our diet so that not so much of our land is being used to raise cows, cause it’s killing the ozone layer.”
Student: “What if you wanted to – ”
Cutler: “You don’t have any evidence to support it. There’s only one right answer to this essay. And it’s that Americans should be eating bugs. Everyone in the world is eating them, it’s healthy for the environment and there’s just, there’s only one right answer.”
There’s only one right answer. And therein lies the problem. No debate, no examination of the data, no research, and no discussion. Just eat ze bugs. That is not science, that is a religion. Apparently, some churches are still allowed access to schools.
Related: U.S. Energy Secretary Praises China’s Climate Change Efforts
During a meeting with Wright, Cutler said that the idea of eating bugs to save the planet was a part of district training. That’s something parents in the Nebo School District may want to look into tomorrow. She also said that she was unaware of any “downsides to eating bugs.” She apologized for any harm and for not letting students take opposing points of view. In other words, she got caught and was backpedaling as fast as she could.
A spokesperson for the Nebo School District said:
On the questions about extra credit: Yes, the teacher said sure you can have bonus points, almost as an afterthought. There are multiple opportunities for extra credit or bonus points in this class.[W]hen the teacher realized there was concern, the student was offered another topic of the student’s choice. Remember this particular assignment is about finding facts versus opinions to support writing an argumentative essay. Our district, schools, and teachers do encourage parents and students to come to us with their concerns. We want to continue to be partners in the education of children.”
That was almost a pretty good punt. Almost. If, in fact, “this particular assignment is about finding facts versus opinions to support writing an argumentative essay,” all viewpoints should have been welcome. You are free to attend the First Church of Climatism and even advocate for it. But not in school. And if the topic comes up in class, which would be fine, if climate change is indeed as bad as its acolytes claim, it should be able to handily withstand any challenges. Not prohibit them. Ms. Cutler’s problem was not having an opinion. It was telling young people that there could only be one opinion and one set of facts.
There is the misconception that Utah is a red state. I would submit it is a pink state, with the majority of the blue-leaning folks congregating in the resort towns and the Salt Lake metro area. Springville is a cute, quaint town located toward the southern end of Utah County. It is also a small town that is growing bigger by the minute and quickly becoming part of the Provo metro area. For the moment, it and its neighbor, Spanish Fork, are still tenuously hanging on to their rural roots. But as more people move in, and the farm and ranch land is replaced by cookie-cutter subdivisions and shopping plazas, the rural vibe and, for that matter, common sense may soon be things of the past. Springville is theoretically miles away from Woke Central, but that does not matter.
In HazMat, there were three things that we used to consider when it came to protecting ourselves from danger: time, distance, and shielding. For you parents, time and distance will no longer protect your children. And you can only shield them from so much. Kids being kids, asking them what they learned in school that day will likely yield little by way of response. You have to be in the middle of your child’s education, and, when necessary, run interference. Because even if the prophets of climate, race, and gender get busted, they will be back. And the next time, they will be smarter and stealthier.
Now if you will excuse me, I am going to fire up the smoker and put the steaks on. And I am going to give the chickens some mealworms. Because bugs are for chickens. Steaks are for people.
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