Originally published @ 3:25 pm, Sat 6th Nov 2010
Over two days 40 young people aged 16-19 from across Greater Nottingham met at The Council House in Nottingham to talk about bio-sciences. With the spectacular growth of Bio-City in Nottingham, this branch of science is especially important to the future of Nottingham. Four issues in particular were discussed -
• Stem cell research
• Use of genetic test results
• Genes and aggressive behaviour
• Personalised medicine
Now these are tough issues for politicians at the best of times, so perhaps it was not surprising to find that having worked so well as groups, it was harder to draw up resolutions on the way forward, in a short space of time, for immediate debate. And that’s before a local politician chipped in with some Citrine advice on how voting on a motion should formally be taken.
Earlier, the teenagers had sought to speak from Nottingham’s Speakers Corner, only to be interrupted by members of the Speakers Corner Society, whose code of conduct includes “seek common ground rather than confrontation”.
A science lecturer gave a strong presentation on stem cells at the end, and he wove in plenty of real life to bring it to life, including this quote from Socrates–
“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”
Yep, teenagers have been perceived a problem for over 2,000 years. But now I wonder what Socrates had to say about adults.
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