Science Fairs Are as Flawed as My Solar-Powered Hot Dog Cooker
15th April 2016
Bottom line:
The experience turned out well, but it also left me queasy. The only reason Veronica was able to carry out her experiment was that I had the flexibility to spend hours struggling through paperwork, and because I had a social network of scientists I’ve developed as a science writer. This was an exercise in privilege.
If Veronica had been the daughter of a single parent with a couple jobs and no connections to the world of science — if she had been like a lot of American kids, in other words — her idea would have gone up in smoke. She might not have even bothered thinking about the science fair at all.
Notice that the author’s thesis is that there is a problem with science fairs. It doesn’t occur to him that the real problem is the regulations and restrictions on kids doing science. The Blue State Crustian mindset is plain to see — regulations and restrictions exist and are not to be questioned; what remains for us to do is to Create Programs so that even proles can cope with them. Because Diversity (or, as he puts it, ‘equity’). What doesn’t even occur to him is that getting rid of the regulations and restrictions might be preferable; Servants of the Crust just can’t even form the thought in their heads.