What is Humanism? Life is like a maze: we all have to make decisions about which direction to take, and it can be difficult to know which way to go. Religious people have their leaders and holy books to guide them, but what if you don’t believe in God? How do atheists decide what is right and wrong? Humanism might have the answer.
key_stages: Key Stage 4 (Age 14-16)
Designer Babies: The Fertility Expert – Geeta is a fertility specialist who argues against the creation of too many surplus embryos and against genetic screening because she says having a baby is “not a lifestyle choice”.
Courtesy of 4thought.tv
Designer Babies: The Mother – Elaine inherited a genetic fault which increases her chances of getting breast cancer, and she has passed it on to one of her daughters. Having suffered treatment for cancer she now wishes that genetic screening had been available for the sake of future generations.
Courtesy of 4thought.tv
Designer Babies: The Jain – When Nishad and his wife were expecting their first child, they were told that the baby had Down’s Syndrome, and given the option to terminate the pregnancy. Nishad is a Jain, and believes that he should not have the power to choose whether or not a soul continues its life.
Courtesy of 4thought.tv
Designer Babies: The Doctor – Shane is a doctor in genetic medicine and argues that his work is a “tremendous blessing” and helps families live as normally as possible.
Courtesy of 4thought.tv
Designer Babies: The Pro-Life Campaigner – James likens the creation of designer babies to the Nazi dream of breeding a super-race, and is mainly concerned about all the embryos that are discarded in the process.
Courtesy of 4thought.tv
Designer Babies: The Saviour Sibling – Joe’s daughter was Britain’s first “designer baby” and without her, his son would not have been cured of a rare bone marrow condition.
Courtesy of 4thought.tv
Designer Babies: The Vicar – Joanna is a Vicar, and she is pregnant. She was born with a defect of the jaw and her brother has Down’s Syndrome, so she challenges the right of people to abort babies with congenital problems.
Courtesy of 4thought.tv
Gains and Losses – What does it feel like to suffer from anorexia? Written and narrated by young people who have suffered with the eating disorder, this animation describes how it takes hold, how it feels, and how to fight back.
Courtesy of Biomation.
