I am not an educator, nor am I a parent. However, I think that sometimes we don't give our kids enough credit for being able to understand ambiguity and different points of view. By the time kids reach high school, I think they should be able to understand the debate.

I believe the issue of seperating creationism from evolution -- into 2 seperate classes -- is that we'd be fundamentally calling one idea "science" and the other one "religion." Not sure everyone believes in this black and white difference. Especially when it comes to creationism.

I like Lixy's idea....and my mom exposed me to several Christian religions...but I hesitate to count on all parents to show this much concern for their kids' development of faith. Plus....many areas don't have access to the scope of religions I'd advocate covering in class. I spent a few months in NE Tennessee recently, and I saw no non-Christian "churces" in the neighborhood. Hard to expose one to Buddhism, Hinduism, Judiasm, Islam, and others when there are no local faithful. These "gaps" make an academic approach all that more crucial.

I'm enjoying hearing everyone's views. Thanks for contributing to the discussion!

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I think men talk to women so they can sleep with them and women sleep with men so they can talk to them. ~ Jay McInerney