Do whales have nipples? Why discussing evolution in schools can occasionally be tricky | Jules Howard

It’s not the contested issue you’d think it is, looking at Twitter. But I have to be honest, it can be difficult when religious supervisors attend my science sessions

“Evolution is not a fact. That’s why it’s called a theory!” Post these words online and, ironically, you will see something rather biblical appear. Airing an opinion like this on Facebook or Twitter can make swaths of educated people become pain-stricken, as if in the midst of a great plague. You will hear them moan and wail in indignation. For evolution (by natural selection) is both a fact and a theory.

This is roughly what happened when headteacher Tina Wilkinson posted the quote above on Twitter in response to an article by fellow headteacher Tom Sherrington, who’d written about teaching evolution in school assemblies. Hellfire ensued. The usual Twitter-hate rained down upon her, because evolution is now a science topic in the national curriculum for primary schools, and because Wilkinson is a headteacher of a primary school. Wilkinson has left Twitter and I feel quite sorry for her. She was only stating an opinion, after all. But that, of course, is part of the problem.

Related: Headteacher mocked on Twitter for claiming evolution is not a fact

I don’t really have an opinion worth listening to on God, because I care about fossil animal bones and teeth

Related: George Monbiot meets David Attenborough: ‘You feel apprehensive for the future, of course you do’

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