Pig dissection in schools is a classic biology lab that has been around for decades, but does cutting open a fetal pig really teach us what we need to know, or is it just an outdated experiment that grosses students out and brings up ethical concerns? As schools continue to debate whether it’s worth the cost, it’s time to ask: Is there a better way to learn about biology without sacrificing ethics?
One student, Jonah Unterreiner, said, “The pig dissection has been awful to some people, and informational to others.” Unterreiner is a student doing the pig dissection in his biology class and adds, “For me, the dissection has been a bit disgusting, but pretty informative, and I have learned a bit of stuff,” Unterreiner said.
Another student, JJ Crandall, had a different opinion on the dissection. “I really hate the pig dissection, it is very gross, and I don’t really think I will have to know how to cut a pig when I grow up.” Crandall said that he did learn some things about biology from the dissection, but he probably wouldn’t use the things he learned from it in real life, so in his opinion, the pig dissection wasn’t worth it. When asked what a more helpful alternative would be, he said, “The school could purchase VR for this lab, and we could use augmented reality to project 3D animal bodies onto your desk.” This suggestion would pose less ethical debate and not gross the students out.
Lucas Nester, a student at DHS, said, “There were some kids messing around and being immature as heck.” Many students around the school know about the pig foot incident that got several students suspended. Lucas witnessed this event and shared, “They cut off the foot and put it into this other person’s hood, it was crazy.” Based on this, the pig dissection can be prone to immature activities and get people in trouble if they can’t control themselves.
All in all, for some students, the pig dissection is pretty gross, but informative for some students, and outdated and impractical for others. In addition, it can only go well if the students are mature enough to handle it. The value of the pig dissection remains to be determined, and it really comes down to students’ individual experiences. So, what do you think?
