Several years ago, when she was just a sixth grader, Laurie Wolff was asked to dissect an earthworm as part of her science class. Laurie felt uncomfortable with the task and asked her teacher if she could sit this one out. There was only one problem: Her school district required her to participate.

As a result, the normally straight-A student received a C in the class. Realizing that only more Cs loomed ahead as she made her way through secondary science classes, Laurie decided, at the urging of her grandmother, to take a stand against the Clark County, Nevada school board's policy on dissection.

Two years later, as an eighth grader at Garrett Middle School in Boulder City, Laurie asked her classmates to sign a petition, which she then presented to the school board at a December 2001 meeting. She asked the school district—the sixth largest in the nation with 266 schools in the Las Vegas area—to provide students with an option to dissection.

After reviewing Laurie's request and exploring alternatives to animal dissection, the Clark County school board drafted a student choice amendment, to provide students with an alternative assignment if they held ethical or moral views against dissection. At the urging of The Humane Society of the United States and other animal-protection organizations, the board voted unanimously for the amendment at its April 11, 2002 meeting.

"The Clark County school board members' response was such a positive development, showing that they took the students' ethical concerns seriously while providing a model for other school districts to deal with the issue of student choice," says Lesley King, program officer for education at The HSUS.

Because of Laurie's stand and the board's decision, the 244,000-plus students in the Clark County school district now have another option, which is important, experts say, as many children find animal dissection troubling but don't feel comfortable voicing their concerns. Speaking up, fortunately, was not a problem for Laurie.

"You don't learn anything about an animal by cutting it up," Laurie told the Las Vegas Sun after the April 2002 school board meeting. "It's a waste when there are so many other ways to learn about science without having to kill something first."

Thankfully, Laurie's is not an isolated case. Students across the country are standing up and saying "no" to forced participation in dissection. Not long after the Clark County decision, Jennifer Watson, a Baltimore County, Maryland, honors student faced a failing grade if she did not participate in a cat dissection for her honors anatomy and physiology class, forcing her to drop the class.

When Jennifer and her mother appealed to Kenwood High School and the Baltimore County School District, both of which refused to allow Jennifer to use an alternative, they went public. With the help of The HSUS's Dr. King, they addressed the school district at a school board meeting and pushed for an official, written policy on giving students a choice when it comes to dissection.

The presentation made quite an impression. The following day, the Baltimore County School District called Kenwood High School and informed them that they did indeed have an unwritten policy to allow students alternatives. Jennifer was immediately invited back into her honors class with assurances from the school district that they would be working on this issue in the future.

The Clark County and the Baltimore County school districts have joined a growing list of schools, universities, states and countries that no longer require animal dissection, and even prohibit it in some instances. Countries such as Argentina, Norway and Switzerland prohibit dissection below the university level. In the United States, California, New York, Florida, Illinois and Pennsylvania protect the rights of students who oppose dissection. Massachusetts may soon join these states when they decide on pending legislation that would give students the option to use alternatives.

Still, despite this display of enlightenment, an estimated six million cats, dogs, frogs and other animals are killed each year for dissections. Many frogs are believed to come from the wild, hurting not only the animals used for dissection but also depleting frog populations. That's why organizations like The HSUS know their work is far from over. The HSUS, for instance, offered Clark County teachers a chance to try the latest biology-teaching software, a low-cost and efficient alternative to dissection.

"Our work aims to ensure that a high-quality education does not inadvertently harm animals," says The HSUS's King. "Simple changes, such as the adoption of student choice policies that respect students' ethical and religious beliefs about using animals in biology education, can make a world of difference for both the children being educated and the animals."

Given recent evidence about the efficacy of alternative methods, not to mention their cost-effectiveness, it's becoming increasingly difficult for school districts to balk at providing students with options to dissection. In fact, The HSUS has compiled a list of 29 studies that compared alternative methods against dissections and other animals uses. In 28 of those studies, researchers found that students using alternatives such as computer simulations performed as well or better than students who conducted traditional dissections.

What's more, the non-profit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), based in Washington, D.C., notes that alternatives are cheaper than animal dissections in the long run. "A school with five biology classes, for example, will spend about $1,300 to buy 35 bullfrogs per class per year," writes PCRM founder Dr. Neal D. Barnard and health writer Karen M. Pirozzi. "By contrast, the 'Digital Bullfrog' CD-ROM requires a one-time outlay of just $200."

These alternatives can even be obtained for less, as in free. The HSUS runs the Humane Education Loan Program (HELP), a free service that lends CD-ROMs, videos, models, and charts to students and teachers who are interested in alternatives to dissection. The HSUS also offers free advice from trained biological scientists to help schools implement an alternative program, and we have the Student Choice in Biology Education: A Policy Guide to assist school districts in writing student choice policies. For more information about HELP or our other services, contact us at ari@hsus.org or at 301-258-3041.