Cutting Class A Pro-Con Debate On Whether Frog Dissection Belongs In Biology Classes

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“In ninth-grade biology class we had the usual dissection of fetal pigs, and (I) took the remains of that pig home and kept the skeleton of it, and I just started branching out to dogs and cats.”

This is what serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer said in the last interview before his death, televised on “Dateline NBC.”

He credited the excitement and power he experienced when cutting up animals with inspiring him to move beyond nonhumans into the realm of mutilating human bodies.

Dahmer’s remarks are a powerful testimony to the capability of classroom dissection to desensitize students to the harm they cause other living things, human or otherwise.

The capture of wild frogs to stock breeding ponds also negatively impacts the ecosystem by depleting the natural frog population.

Of course, there are also always safety hazards involved when teenagers start goofing off with scalpels and frog intestines.

Furthermore, dissection can cost more than 50 times as much as non-laboratory alternatives, according to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

These alternatives, such as computer programs, videos and cloth or plastic models, cost even less in the long run because they do not need to be reordered year after year.

These safer and more humane alternatives would reinforce the message of non-violence that our schools are always advocating; would reduce the safety risks involved in dissection; and would cost far less than current teaching methods.

For some resources on alternatives to dissection, contact the Humane Society of United States or check out Virtual Dissections at http://biology.miningco.com