Priya Desai
Staff Writer
@priusdasani
All over Facebook I see some pictures in people’s photo albums of their senior year that seem a bit out of place. To me, posing with a dead animal you are about to dissect does not look like it should be in the same album with your weekend lake pictures.
Coppell High School anatomy students seem to think this sort of behavior of taking pictures with animals to be used for dissection is acceptable because of social media’s ability to basically make anything, with the right wording, seem like a trend to follow.
While it is not intended to be a harmful action, it is why they feel that it’s something they need to post that concerns me. For that moment, whether it was their own idea or their friends, someone thought it was a good idea to take a goofy picture with a dead animal they are about to dissect. It is not goofy, it is disrespectful.
While there are procedures and rules in place in the classroom, some students are able to bypass this system due to the ability to have multiple devices on hand during these dissections. With the volume of the students in the classes and all the activity occurring during these procedures, it is very hard to control the students from taking these pictures. They therefore feel they can get away with taking these inappropriate pictures.
While questions about the ethics behind it should raise concern for whoever decides to frown or smile behind a dead frog for some likes, the sheer fact of the nauseating nature of the whole concept makes these pictures not only inappropriate, but unpopular.
When I see a picture of someone grinning next to the dead pig they are about to dissect it is not exactly humor that goes through me. Rather, it is a feeling of disgust and nausea that hits me. Unfortunately, this happens every time I have to see one of these pictures pop up.
It is not just pictures on social media that shows these students’ disrespect though. Often in classes this same behavior is exhibited by considering the dissection to be a joke and often playing with body parts they are suppose to be observing during the assignment and not using equipment in the way it was intended in order to get a laugh out of their lab partner.
Through the hallways I have also heard stories about students daring each other to eat minnow samples that they were suppose to be observing for money and respect from their peers. Sometimes, they will even pretend like the animal is talking by moving their mouth as a joke.
Think about it like this: would medical students ever take a selfie or find the need to mess with with a cadaver during one of their lab sessions to crack a joke?
Immediately, we think no. I mean, that is a human body. But for students, they do not equate these animals with humans and see this behavior as something that can be laughed off as an immature joke.
While this comparison seems too extreme, this is the equivalent for our students and should be taken into account into what type of behavior needs to be exhibited with these animals being used for dissection.
To those that see this equivalence, these pictures are not only disgusting, but are also infuriating.
Personally, I do see the importance of these dissections. While I do feel like they should be very limited, dissections are a hands on way to learn about the body and its biological functions and purpose. It is a necessary learning experience for those that do want to go into the medical field.
There needs to be a decrease of these type of pictures in these anatomy classes to emphasize the inappropriate and disrespectful nature of their actions and decisions. Policies are in place, but now it’s the responsibilities of the students to make responsible decisions during these dissections recognizing that they are dealing with animals and should be respectful of that.
Next time you are in anatomy and think it would just be hilarious to make a piggy face with the piglet you are about to dissect, remember why you are really in that anatomy class and what the purpose of that animal really is.
