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(For US and African leaders at summit, a time to invest in next generation of girls)
(South Carolina Legislator Wants To Force Students To Learn Creationism)
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NAIROBi, Kenya I really want to go back to school so that I can get a job and live a better life, Changamile told us from her home in rural Malawi. But Changamile married at 16, and she has too much housework and no support from her family to return to school.
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Fair has a history of trying to dumb down the teaching of science.&nbsp; Back in February, he blocked the state education oversight committee from using the phrase 鈥渘atural <a href=http://www.saclouisvuittonhomme.com/milticolor-monogramme-ceinture-25>Milticolor monogramme ceinture</a> selection鈥?in the state science standards. Speaking to the&nbsp;, Fair said
Dozens of leaders from countries around Africa, including Malawi, are in Washington through August 6 for the first US-African Leaders Summit, with the theme Investing in the Next Generation. The US State Department says it will be an opportunity to discuss ways of unlocking opportunity. For a positive return on investment in the next generation, girls like Changamile need to be on the agenda, or it will be a wasted opportunity.
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鈥淭o teach that natural selection is the answer to origins is wrong. I don鈥檛 think it should be taught as fact.鈥?<Mike>Fair, S.C. legislator]
The US government and African leaders surely know that education is key to unlocking girls potential, improving their health and promoting equality. But ending early and forced marriages is essential to improving African girls access to education.
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Ignorant barely begins to describe this statement. Mike Fair clearly doesn鈥檛 have the faintest grasp of biology or genetics. He鈥檚 the last person that anyone should want to weigh in on science standards. His behavior goes far beyond mere ignorance, though: not only is he wrong, but he wants to use the power of the state to impose his religious views, under the guise of science, on every student in South Carolina鈥檚 schools. No wonder South Carolina is perennially ranked near the bottom of the country in public education.  
with the highest rate of child marriage are in Africa. Child marriage often ends girls education, harms their health, exposes them to a life of violence and undermines government efforts <a href=http://www.louisvuittontassenkopen.com>Louis Vuitton Tassen</a> to promote gender equality and end poverty.
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I have a confession to make. I grew up in South Carolina and went through the public schools there, from kindergarten right through high school. I met lots of guys like&nbsp;: popular, plays on the football team, student body president. These guys are usually bullies (we鈥檝e all seen the movie), and that鈥檚 just what Fair is demonstrating now: he wants to bully every teacher, and every child, into listening <a href=http://www.saclouisvuittonhomme.com/trunks-et-sacs-damier-ceinture-28>Trunks et sacs Damier ceinture</a> to his ignorant views of science. I鈥檝e no doubt that if Fair could require prayer in every school 鈥?Christian prayer, that is 鈥?he鈥檇 do that too. I grew up surrounded by this kind of nonsense, but I didn鈥檛 speak up then because I would have been ostracized. Well, I鈥檓 speaking up now.
In terms of return on their investment, leaders couldn t pick a better issue. Governments could potentially cut the gender gap in education in half by eliminating child marriage and early pregnancy, according to .
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Fair and his colleagues in the Republican-dominated S.C. House of Representatives argue that no, they aren鈥檛 forcing teachers to teach creationism 鈥?they just want to teach the controversy. Equally appalling is the position of the S.C. Superintendent of Education,&nbsp;,&nbsp;:
Ending child marriage demands a comprehensive strategy to address its root causes and to reach out to girls who are already married. The US Congress recognized this and in 2013 required the Obama administration to develop and implement a multi-year and multi-faceted strategy to end child marriage.
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鈥淲e ought to teach both sides and let students draw their own conclusions.鈥?
The administration has yet to act on this mandate. Competing side events at the Summit on investing in health and investing in women for peace and prosperity represent two key discussions directly related to child marriage. This scenario reflects the challenges to creating the holistic approach to unlock the potential of adolescent girls. The US approach to <a href=http://www.louisvuittontassenkopen.com>Louis Vuitton Kopen</a> child marriage may remain fractured without a clear, coherent strategy.
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No, you shouldn鈥檛. There is no scientific controversy about evolution. Evolutionary theory is based on an enormous edifice of facts, with literally tens of thousands of scientific papers providing evidence to support it. There is no competing theory out there.  
Nevertheless, the United States recently  to ending child marriage, by supporting programs in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. And it has committed to providing health care and access to education to married children, and to raising awareness on girls education.
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Ironically, three years ago Fair introduced a bill to prevent the imposition of Islamic-based Sharia law in South Carolina. He&nbsp;
These are positive steps, but they overlook a key area where the United States can have considerable impact: prevention. has found that investing in adolescent sexual and reproductive health, including information, services and education would go a long way in preventing adolescent pregnancy, one of the drivers of child marriage in Africa.
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鈥淎 growing concern is the immigration of people who are accustomed to their religion and their civil laws <a href=http://www.saclouisvuittonhomme.com/chaussures-louis-vuitton-33>Chaussures Louis Vuitton</a> being inextricably connected. For those newcomers to our state, this bill will be helpful to them as they are assimilated into our culture maintaining complete freedom to worship as they please.鈥?
Foreign assistance can help, but ultimately African leaders themselves need to take the lead. Fortunately some have done so, recognizing the impact of child marriage on their economies, societies and overall future development, and they are acting to give the girls in their countries a brighter future.
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Reading this sent my irony meter way into the red zone. Let me see if I understand: Mike Fair doesn鈥檛 want religion and civil laws to be 鈥渋nextricably connected鈥?鈥?but he&nbsp;does&nbsp;want to require that public, state-funded schools teach his religious view of the creation myth. I guess what he meant to say is that it鈥檚 okay to mix religious fundamentalism and civil law, as long as it鈥檚 Mike Fair鈥檚 brand of Christian fundamentalism.  
The African Union initiated to end child marriage in the region. The African Union campaign is ground-breaking. It urges leaders to protect the rights of girls including enforcing or enhancing legal protections, raising awareness with communities about the harm of child marriage and developing national strategies to combat it. To be effective, this campaign needs to have measurable targets, and real political weight behind it.
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South Carolina doesn鈥檛 even need its own set of science standards, nor does Texas, Louisiana, or Kansas. The laws of science don鈥檛 change when you cross state lines or national borders. Allowing politicians to set science standards is a recipe for disaster, and is one reason why the U.S. continues to lag the rest of the world in science education鈥攁s South Carolina has once again demonstrated.
There couldn t be a better time for African leaders to demonstrate their real commitment to ending child marriage than at a global summit aimed at the next generation. African leaders and their governments need to outline concrete steps to unlock the potential of adolescent girls including through policies to end child marriage and help pregnant and married girls to continue their schooling.
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African leaders and donor countries like the United States need a shared vision for this effort. Just a few days ago, <a href=http://www.louisvuittontassenkopen.com>Louis Vuitton Handtassen</a> President Obama showed he understands how important this is when he from Africa to make the advancement of women a universal priority.
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He and Africa s leaders can all agree that ending child marriage needs to be a part of that. Investing in the next generation means reaching out to girls like Changamile and giving them a chance to become the next generation s stars.
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Agnes Odhiambo is a senior researcher and Amanda Klasing a researcher in the women s rights division of Human Rights Watch.  
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http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/commentary/us-and-african-leaders-at-summit-time-invest-next-generation-
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Revision as of 00:10, 10 August 2014

@@@ Fair has a history of trying to dumb down the teaching of science.  Back in February, he blocked the state education oversight committee from using the phrase 鈥渘atural <a href=http://www.saclouisvuittonhomme.com/milticolor-monogramme-ceinture-25>Milticolor monogramme ceinture</a> selection鈥?in the state science standards. Speaking to the , Fair said

鈥淭o teach that natural selection is the answer to origins is wrong. I don鈥檛 think it should be taught as fact.鈥?<Mike>Fair, S.C. legislator]

Ignorant barely begins to describe this statement. Mike Fair clearly doesn鈥檛 have the faintest grasp of biology or genetics. He鈥檚 the last person that anyone should want to weigh in on science standards. His behavior goes far beyond mere ignorance, though: not only is he wrong, but he wants to use the power of the state to impose his religious views, under the guise of science, on every student in South Carolina鈥檚 schools. No wonder South Carolina is perennially ranked near the bottom of the country in public education. I have a confession to make. I grew up in South Carolina and went through the public schools there, from kindergarten right through high school. I met lots of guys like : popular, plays on the football team, student body president. These guys are usually bullies (we鈥檝e all seen the movie), and that鈥檚 just what Fair is demonstrating now: he wants to bully every teacher, and every child, into listening <a href=http://www.saclouisvuittonhomme.com/trunks-et-sacs-damier-ceinture-28>Trunks et sacs Damier ceinture</a> to his ignorant views of science. I鈥檝e no doubt that if Fair could require prayer in every school 鈥?Christian prayer, that is 鈥?he鈥檇 do that too. I grew up surrounded by this kind of nonsense, but I didn鈥檛 speak up then because I would have been ostracized. Well, I鈥檓 speaking up now. Fair and his colleagues in the Republican-dominated S.C. House of Representatives argue that no, they aren鈥檛 forcing teachers to teach creationism 鈥?they just want to teach the controversy. Equally appalling is the position of the S.C. Superintendent of Education, , :

鈥淲e ought to teach both sides and let students draw their own conclusions.鈥?

No, you shouldn鈥檛. There is no scientific controversy about evolution. Evolutionary theory is based on an enormous edifice of facts, with literally tens of thousands of scientific papers providing evidence to support it. There is no competing theory out there. Ironically, three years ago Fair introduced a bill to prevent the imposition of Islamic-based Sharia law in South Carolina. He 

鈥淎 growing concern is the immigration of people who are accustomed to their religion and their civil laws <a href=http://www.saclouisvuittonhomme.com/chaussures-louis-vuitton-33>Chaussures Louis Vuitton</a> being inextricably connected. For those newcomers to our state, this bill will be helpful to them as they are assimilated into our culture maintaining complete freedom to worship as they please.鈥?

Reading this sent my irony meter way into the red zone. Let me see if I understand: Mike Fair doesn鈥檛 want religion and civil laws to be 鈥渋nextricably connected鈥?鈥?but he does want to require that public, state-funded schools teach his religious view of the creation myth. I guess what he meant to say is that it鈥檚 okay to mix religious fundamentalism and civil law, as long as it鈥檚 Mike Fair鈥檚 brand of Christian fundamentalism. South Carolina doesn鈥檛 even need its own set of science standards, nor does Texas, Louisiana, or Kansas. The laws of science don鈥檛 change when you cross state lines or national borders. Allowing politicians to set science standards is a recipe for disaster, and is one reason why the U.S. continues to lag the rest of the world in science education鈥攁s South Carolina has once again demonstrated.

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