Nick News Explores Issues Surrounding the Teaching of Evolution and Intelligent Design in Schools

Nick News Explores Issues Surrounding the Teaching of Evolution and Intelligent Design in Schools

Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: God, Science, Politics and Your School - Sunday, Jan. 22, 8:30 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon

NEW YORK, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- In Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: God, Science, Politics and Your School, airing on Nickelodeon, Sunday, Jan. 22, 8:30 p.m. (ET/PT), award-winning journalist Linda Ellerbee and Nick News take a look at the on-going controversy surrounding the teaching of the theory of intelligent design alongside the theory of evolution in public school science classes.

"The goal of this show is not to debate the issues of evolution, intelligent design, or creationism," said Ellerbee. "We just want to give kids a better understanding of what all the shouting is about, not to mention the court cases that have resulted already, and some that are shaping up. We also wanted to hear from kids affected by these disputes."

Recent events have put the teaching of evolution on the front page of newspapers everywhere again. Since the Supreme Court outlawed the teaching of religious ideas (creationism) in science classes in 1987, another group has come forward to challenge evolution. Intelligent design supporters say that their idea is a scientific, non-religious challenge to evolution. But what exactly are evolution and intelligent design? What is science?

Traveling to Kansas and Dover, Pennsylvania, Nick News takes a look at how intelligent design is being opposed or supported. In Dover, PA, for example, Nick News looks at a legal challenge to intelligent design that lost. In Kansas, supporters of intelligent design won. Nick News also focuses on other places where challenges to evolution exist or might soon, including Georgia and Alabama.

Ellerbee speaks with several experts throughout the show, some on the subject of intelligent design, including Michael Behe, author of Darwin's Black Box, and others on the evolution perspective including Eugenie Scott, Director of the National Center for Science Education, an organization which is dedicated to the teaching of evolution, and Kenneth Miller, a biology professor at Brown University and author of Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution.

Ellerbee and Nick News make certain to also get one of the most important perspectives on the matter -- from kids themselves. The episode ends with kids from different religions and cultures around the world speaking about their beliefs of how the world began.

Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: God, Science, Politics and Your School will also air on Nickelodeon's Cable in the Classroom on February 3 and 10 at 6 a.m., and will available on TurboNick, Nickelodeon's online broadband service on Nick.com as of Jan. 25.

Nick News, which is in its 14th year -- the longest-running kids' news show in television history -- has built its reputation on the respectful and direct way it speaks to kids about the important issues of the day. A recipient of a 2005 Emmy for Outstanding Children's Programming, the program has covered the tough topics, including the Sept. 11 attacks, the Columbine tragedy, divorce, bullying, learning disorders, all the presidential elections since 1992, the Balkan war, the Iraq War, the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal and AIDS. In 1992, Ellerbee's special, "A Conversation with Magic," which featured Magic Johnson, set the standard for talking with kids about AIDS. In 1994, the entire series, Nick News, won the Emmy for Outstanding Children's Programming. In 1998, "What Are You Staring At?" a program about kids with physical disabilities, won the Emmy for Outstanding Children's Programming. In 2002, "Faces of Hope: The Kids of Afghanistan," won the Emmy for Outstanding Children's Programming. In 2004, two Nick News Specials, "The Courage to Live: Kids, South Africa and AIDS" and "There's No Place Like Home," a special about homeless kids in America, were both nominated for the Outstanding Children's Programming Emmy. In fact, Nick News has received more than 20 Emmy nominations. Nick News, produced by Lucky Duck Productions, is also the recipient of two Peabody Awards, including a personal one given to Ellerbee for her coverage of the President Clinton investigation; a Columbia duPont Award; and more than a dozen Parents' Choice Awards.

Nickelodeon, now in its 26th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in 89 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for more than ten consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.

Source: Nickelodeon

CONTACT: Joanna Roses, +1-212-846-7326 for Nickelodeon

Web site: http://www.nick.com/

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