The Star: August 22, 2019

The Star Thursday August 22 2019
8
NEWS
news online at www.star.kiwi
Young myth busters: Cracking the
Conspiracy theories,
fake news, true or false?
These are the questions
a class of secondary
school students are
pondering over. Sophie
Cornish reports
THERE IS a big difference
between convincing your teacher
the dog ate your homework and
persuading them the earth is flat.
What about debating with your
school principal that the country
of Australia doesn’t actually exist?
Highly unlikely.
But for a group of Canterbury
secondary school students,
believing the impossible could
actually be possible is what is
helping them gain their NCEA
qualifications.
This year, a group of 50 students
have delved deep into the
most mind-bending theories
known to man and been forced
to argue they contain truths.
The debating assessment,
where students were given a
conspiracy to argue for or against
is part of Rolleston College’s intriguing
new class – conspiracy.
Students are taught to critically
think and question what they
read with a discerning eye, all
while gaining both literacy and
science NCEA credits.
In an age of ‘fake news’ and
unlimited information at their
fingertips, three students, Samuel
Pearson, Joy Su and Ethan
Richards-White, say the class
has prompted new discussions in
their lives and taught them how
to question fact from fiction.
The most widely-debated theories
are covered including 9/11,
the moon landing, Illuminati and
the earth being flat.
However, more modern, controversial
and eye-brow raising
discussions also take place in the
classroom.
Do vaccines cause autism? Has
the cure for cancer already been
discovered? Does eating meat
cause cancer?
Split into two components, the
KEEN: Students
Sam Pearson,
Joy Su and
Ethan Richards-
White are
learning about
conspiracy
theories
including 9/11.
PHOTO: GEOFF
SLOAN
class has just completed the literacy
course and will soon move
into the science assessments.
For literacy, students were
required to create a visual text
which reflected the conflicting
views of a conspiracy.
For Samuel, he showed the contrasting
belief that secret group,
Illuminati, is the higher controller
of the our existence, while Joy
and Ethan debated the theory of
aliens, whether they control us or
are living in the highly-classified,
Area 51.
Along with this, a publicspeaking
assessment saw the class
be divided into groups and given
a topic and viewpoint, which they
were required to debate, all while
being judged by their principal,
Steve Saville.
At first, Joy seemed disappointed
she was given the task
of arguing that vaccines cause
autism.
But, delving into medical
research for the debate made her
realise she may consider medicine
as a career path in future.
“Trying to understand every
medical term was hard. It has
made me more curious about
medicine. It (the class) helps you
to see what your interests are,”
she said.
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