Young Skeptics

Young Skeptics is an after school program sponsored by The Better News Club, Inc. (BNC), an incorporated non-profit organization run by a board of directors consisting of unpaid volunteers.[1][2] Young Skeptics' mission statement says “The mission of Young Skeptics is to promote and facilitate critical thinking and evidence-based learning among the youth of local school districts. We believe in discovery through tangible problem solving and the scientific method, and refrain from offering supernatural explanations for occurrences in nature. Young Skeptics is committed to teaching children how to think, not what to think.”[3][1][4] It ran a pilot program for elementary school children in Monroe County, New York.[5] Young Skeptics is undergoing national expansion.[6] Its first remote chapter will begin in February 2017 in San Luis Obispo, California.

Young Skeptics
Formation2015 (2015)
Headquarters550 Latona Rd. Bldg D Suite 417, Rochester NY 14626
Executive Director
Kevin Davis
Websitewww.youngskeptics.net

History

Young Skeptics was formed after a group of parents in the Rochester, NY area became concerned by the presence of an evangelical Christian children's group, the Good News Club, at a Churchville-Chili elementary school. A group of Rochester atheists started this critical thinking club as an alternative to the faith based club.[7]

Activities

The club does not address debunking religion because "they are little kids and we don’t want to use the same tactics as the Good News Club by telling them what to think,” said Young Skeptic Director Kevin Davis, “Our focus is on science-based critical thinking.”[3] The first lesson focused on the difference between opinions and facts.[8]

The next 4 lessons are Evidence, Reasoning & Communication, What is a scientist? and What is a skeptic?

The Supreme Court decision Good News Club v. Milford Central School held that when a government operates a "limited public forum" it may not discriminate against speech that takes place within that forum on the basis of the viewpoint it expresses. The "limited public forum" in the case was referring to after school programs, that the schools provided space for, but was not run by the school.

Board

  • Executive Director - Kevin Davis
  • Operations Director - Dan Courtney
  • Communications Director - Kevin Davis
  • Curriculum Director - Aubrey Adrianson
gollark: I wonder how hard/expensive it'd be to run your own channel on the satellite system if there are THAT many.
gollark: We have exciting TV like "BBC Parliament".
gollark: Analog TV got shut down here ages ago.
gollark: So I guess if you consider license costs our terrestrial TV is *not* free and costs a bit more than Netflix and stuff. Oops.
gollark: - it funds the BBC, but you have to pay it if you watch *any* live TV, or watch BBC content online- it's per property, not per person, so if you have a license, and go somewhere without a license, and watch TV on some of your stuff, you are breaking the law (unless your thing is running entirely on battery power and not mains-connected?)- it costs about twice as much as online subscription service things- there are still black and white licenses which cost a third of the priceBut the enforcement of it is even weirder than that:- there are "TV detector vans". The BBC refuses to explain how they actually work in much detail. With modern TVs I don't think this is actually possible, and they probably can't detect iPlayer use, unless you're stupid enough to sign up with your postcode (they started requiring accounts some years ago).- enforcement is apparently done by some organization with almost no actual legal power (they can visit you and complain, but not *do* anything without a search warrant, which is hard to get)- so they make up for it by sending threatening and misleading letters to try and get people to pay money

See also

References

  1. "About". Young Skeptics. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  2. "Division of Corporations Entity Information". New York State. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  3. "Atheist parents take on Christian 'Good News Club' with 'Better News Club'". Washington Post. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  4. Gryboski, Michael. "Atheists Battle Christian Good News Club's Influence in NY Elementary School With Secular 'Better News Club'". Christian Post. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  5. "Young Skeptics Club Launching in Churchville-Chili School District Will Focus on Fostering Critical Thinking Skills". Young Skeptics. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  6. "Young Skeptics in Churchville Shifts Leadership and Prepares for National Expansion". Young Skeptics. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  7. "Atheists form skeptics club in Churchville school". Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  8. Dawson, Evan. "Connections: Young Skeptics Club". WXXI News. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
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