Insidious Creationism:

the intellectual abuse of children through creationist books, comics and literature

James Williams, University of Sussex, England

The science education curriculum in the UK does not fully engage students with the theory of evolution until late in their schooling (ages 14-16). Creationists expend a lot of time, money and energy influencing primary age children with comic books, magazines and videos that contain creation pseudoscience with some elements of real science. By promoting their tales of vegetarian T. rex in the garden of Eden and on Noah’s ark as factual and the mixing of real science with pseudoscience, creationist misconceptions are embedded in children’s minds at an early age. Research shows that established misconceptions are difficult to overcome. This wilful distortion of real science in favour of pseudoscience is nothing less than intellectual abuse. While creationists have a right to publish and voice their views, no matter how far from real science they may be, the science education community must respond by introducing evolution and the reality of how life developed and diversified much earlier in the curriculum to combat the establishment of creationist misconceptions.