query: Social media can be powerful educational resources.  Many teachers have been using social media as an extension of the classroom, some of them setting up discussion pages, or allowing students to contact them about homework or things that they did not understand in the classroom, it allows the teachers to provide extra help whenever the student needs it. This keeps students interested and makes learning fun by using a tool that they are already fond of. The enormous success of tools like ‘The Khan Academy’, which uses youtube videos to deliver lectures to kids, is proof of that [1] . It also allows even those students who are too shy to speak out in class or ask for help, to participate3. Tools like facebook and twitter have the advantage of being ready-made platforms that lend themselves well to extending classroom discussions through groups, pages, pictures, and videos. Not all schools have access to the funding to set up such pages separately and not all teachers have the skills to create them. It would be a mistake for schools to dismiss their use and their value.  [1] Khan, Salman. ”Turning the Classroom Upside Down.” The Wall Street Journal. 9 April 2011.

positive: n science internet house would ban teachers interacting students social Even if this were a great educational tool, some kids may not have access to it. Poverty or a parent’s life style choice might leave kids without access to a computer or the internet, preventing them from joining into such online discussions. This might make them feel more isolated from their peers and leave them behind in their work. The classroom is a space where everyone can be equal and have equal access to learning. The internet may not provide equal access and may hinder some students as a result. The use of such resources may also be to the detriment of other more traditional methods. For example the teacher may feel there is less need to explain homework if anyone who has difficulties while doing the homework can simply ask over the internet.

negative: Homework has a lot of educational value, the reason it has not shown this is because teachers do not set the right kind of homework or they set the wrong amount of it. Some teachers believe homework is for reviewing material, others think it is better for learning new concepts. The result is 'confusion for students'.1 If the homework was consistent however, and related specifically to what is learnt in the classroom, it would have a great deal of educational value by helping them remember their lessons and increase students' confidence in how much they are learning.  Furthermore, Professor Cooper of Duke University has shown that by the high schools years, there is a strong and positive relationship between homework and how well students do at school. There are two main reasons why this relationship does not appear in elementary school: 1) Elementary school teachers assign homework not so much to enhance learning, but in order to encourage the development of good study skills and time management;2 2) young children have less developed cognitive skills to focus and concentrate on their work.3 Thus, they are more easily distracted from their homework assignments.  1 Strauss, 2006 2 Muhlenbruck, Cooper, Nye, & Lindsey, 2000 3Hoover-Dempsey et al., 2001

negative: Homework is an essential part of education, allowing students to learn information beyond that which they are taught at school.  Homework is a vital and valuable part of education. There are only a few hours in each school day – not enough time to cover properly all the subjects children need to study. Setting homework extends study beyond school hours, allowing a wider and deeper education. It also makes the best use of teachers, who can spend lesson time teaching rather than just supervising individual work that could be done at home. Education is about pushing boundaries, and the learning should not stop at the entrance to the classroom – students should take skills learnt in the classroom and apply them at home. Homework allows this to happen, encouraging students to go above and beyond what they do in school. Reading is the best example, students learn how to read at school, but in order to get better, they need to practise and that is best done at home, with the support of parents and at the right pace for the student.

negative: Setting homework does little to develop good study skills. It is hard to check whether the homework students produce is really their own. Some students have always copied off others or got their parents to help them. But today there is so much material available on the internet that teachers can never be sure. It would be better to have a mixture of activities in the classroom which help students to develop a whole range of skills, including independent learning. Furthermore, if teachers want to develop independence in their students, students should be given a choice in the matter of homework. Otherwise, they’re not using their judgement and therefore they aren’t being independent at all 1.  1 Sorrentino , 2011

negative: Parents often know nothing (or worse, are armed with dangerously naive delusions) of the sexual state of their children. The picture painted by abolitionists is inaccurate – the process of deciding what is taught in schools involves parents’ groups and school governing bodies on a school-by-school basis, so parents do have a role in deciding what is taught. But ultimately, the state should be involved in educating the whole child, not just in doling out academic ideas – and should work hard to safeguard sexual health of youngsters, a field near-impossible to separate from sex education.  This is a subject just as important for the development of young people as the conventional subjects such as maths and English. The role of ‘teacher’ has to change with time. Once, teachers only instructed the children of the well-off or acted as a branch of the church, now they teach everyone in a secular society. As their role changes, they must remain responsible and obey the law: thus, the scaremongering of suggesting teachers will abuse their students or lure them into relationships is irrelevant, as both sides believe that is wrong, and should be prosecuted.  Rules banning discussions of sex in schools can deny teachers the ability to deal with real problems. When an individual student comes to a teacher with a problem, a rule against discussing such things in the classroom will probably mean that this outlet of help the troubled adolescent has sought out, often because he feels the family isn’t the place to get help, will be denied to him, will turn its back on him. Like it or not, in today’s fractured society teachers have taken on the role of counsellor, and this rule will indirectly curtail their ability to fulfil it. The result of that will be appalling.

negative: Just because students attend school does not mean that they are going to receive a quality education. The best educated children are those whose parents are involved heavily in their school, helping them with their homework, and pushing them to excel1. Without involved parents, students can become just as easily discouraged. There really need to be programs to involve parents more in school, and provide good mentors and role models for students who don't have them. Schools also need to be improved. Just sending kids to school doesn't mean that they are going to learn and be determined to better themselves. Additionally particularly in the third world if children don't have good schools and qualified teachers, then what is the point of going to school? 1 Chavkin, Nancy, and Williams, David (1989), "Low-Income Parents' Attitudes toward Parent Involvemet in Education", Social Welfare, [Accessed July 21, 2011].

negative: Responsibility for children's moral and sexual upbringing is not the responsibility of schools  This is none of the state’s business. Teaching this subject en masse in a classroom reduces it to biological notions, group embarrassment and crude jokes. Furthermore, children have never needed this from the state: left alone, they learn from their family and surroundings and grow naturally into adults without the state’s involvement. Few things are responsible for parental disaffection with education more than the teaching of sex and sexuality in ways contrary to their wishes.  Parents have a right to determine the moral environment in which their children develop and this is a huge intrusion into that right. That moral environment has been manipulated again and again over the last forty years by a liberal teaching establishment set on undermining traditional values and beliefs. Sex education has been a prime weapon in that social engineering. That tool should be taken away from teachers, who as a body have proven themselves undeserving of it. As for the tedious idea that children somehow need the nanny state to look after their sexuality – who knows children and their needs better than parents? Schools are responsible for so much that is wrong with our children, and by giving them free licence to delve into students’ sexuality, things become so much worse, blurring the line between teacher, adviser, confidante, and sometimes in extremes, between teacher and lover – an abuse of power that bringing sex into the classroom makes so much easier.

negative: The chances of accidents would be miniscule as teacher would be trained to carry the gun and would keep it with them at all times when in the classroom so there would be no chance of the students playing with the gun. The deterrence effect of having guns in school is likely to mean that the number of shootings will go down rather than up. Finally if it was an armed teacher who perpetrated the shooting then they would have been able to commit that atrocity regardless of whether s/he was allowed to carry a gun in school.

negative: Sexual development is a process of gradual discovery and cannot be effectively taught in a classroom  Having a one size fits all sex education system cannot effectively deal differences within classes. Sexual experience is a gradual process and cannot be meaningfully taught in the structured environment of the classroom. People must discover much about their own sexuality, through experimentation and self-exploration. By trying to impose a strict curriculum that explains sexual processes and practices along set guidelines, much of the opportunity for self-discovery is lost. Furthermore, when people are forced to conform to the set sex education program, they cannot move at their own pace. This is particularly harmful to people who are physically or emotionally less mature than their fellow students and who would be better served if they were allowed to pursue sexual knowledge at their own pace. When other students are involved in the classroom, there is necessarily a degree of peer pressure, which places a further strain on the later bloomers of the class to conform and experiment sexually before they are ready. [1] Another example is the case of gay and gender dimorphic students who will be left isolated within the class, even singled out as different, in a way that may not be conducive toward the promotion of understanding and acceptance. Teachers cannot cater their lessons to every single student, and thus students with less conventional sexual preferences and identities are left without meaningful engagement in the classroom.  [1] Pogany, Sex Smart, 1998

negative: Forced education achieves little  Unfortunately just being in school does not guarantee that a student is learning. If they lack aptitude, ability or interest the extra time in the classroom is likely to benefit them very little, especially when they have not chosen to be there. It also poses a sharp divide on the question of disruptive children. If they are excluded from school their disadvantage is extended over more years while if they are included, they damage the education of others in their class for even longer. As Henry Phibbs argues “Increasing the school-leaving age will not result in more being learned – just more broken windows in the locality of the school. Children fed up with school need an escape route, not an extension of their sentence.” [1]  [1] Phibbs, H., ‘Let them leave school at 14’, 2011,

negative: Homework puts students off learning  Homework puts students off learning. Studies have shown that many children find doing homework very stressful, boring and tiring. Often teachers underestimate how long a task will take, or set an unrealistic deadline. Sometimes because a teacher has not explained something new well in class, the homework task is impossible. So children end up paying with their free time for the failings of their teachers. They also suffer punishments if work is done badly or late. After years of bad homework experiences, it is no wonder that many children come to dislike education and switch off, or drop out too early. Teachers in Britain fear that poor children, because they lack the support to do their homework, will be turned off school 1.  1 BBC News, 2008

negative: Homework is about 'winning' on tests, not learning  Many governments make their schools give students a national test (a test taken by all students of the same age). After the tests, they compare schools and punish the schools and teachers whose students do badly. Because schools and teachers are therefore scared about their students doing poorly, they give them more homework, not in the hope they learn more but simply to do better on the tests.1 As such, homework is not designed to help the student, just their teachers and schools who want them to 'win' the test and make them look good, not learn for the students' own benefit.  1 Sorrentino

negative: culture general education education general house would make english official Bilingual Education is expensive and encourages balkanization  One of the goals of the government in providing education is to prepare students for success in the work place, and therefore the government has an obligation to spend its money in the most efficient way possible to accomplish this.  This is relevant because Bilingual education is expensive, requiring the hiring of bilingual teachers, the organization of bilingual classes, and the acquisition of bilingual curriculum materials. [1]  These costs might be justified if they actually helped students. But the reality is that they do not. For one thing, they allow students to get by without learning English. One of the great obstacles to learning a new language is the fact that parents of students may well speak another language at home. If students suddenly use that language at school as well, they will spend the vast majority of their day speaking a language other than English, with the consequence that they may not pick it up at all, and find themselves at a large disadvantage when they attempt to join the workforce.  As a consequence, it seems likely that the money could be better used subsidizing tutoring for students learning English than running an entirely separate and parallel educational system.  [1] Rossell, Christine, ‘Does Bilingual Education Work? The Case of Texas’, Texas Public Policy Foundation, September 2009,

negative: The US magazine Time found research in 2007 that suggested that private schools do not provide a better education than state schools, they do however have a higher percentage of students who would do well in any situation. This means that these children would not lose out by going to state schools. ‘The study says that it is "the kinds of economic and resource advantages their parents can give [students]" — as well as the level of parental involvement in their kids' education —that determines success or failure in high school. The problem isn't in the schools; it's with social inequality’ (Time.com).  The second criticism is that statistics provided by the argument are true only because private education exists, and takes all the best teachers, head teachers and resources away from state schools. If public schools were banned then state schools would gain more teachers and resources and thus would raise to the standards currently occupied by private schools. In a study by Hill and Guin for the University of Washington found that in the US more experienced teachers taught in private schools, thus in theory improving levels of teaching due to experience. (University of Washington2003).

negative: Abolishing private schools will not bring to an end to inequality between pupils as this is illustrated every day in state schools. For example, bullying is extremely common in all schools whether they be state or private. Bullying represents inequality between pupils as often it is the result of one pupil being different to another. Additionally, teachers may treat their students differently depending on their intellectual ability or their behaviour. In the US racism between students and teachers is still a big issue, as minority groups are consistently placed on slower academic tack and in 38 states “black students are twice as likely as whites to be labelled as mentally retarded” (University of Washington2003).  Thus Private schools are not the only means of inequality between students and so the abolition of these would not completely diminish student inequality.  On the disparity between private and state schools, the correct way to improve the education for children in state schools is to spend more money on state schools, devote more time, energy and enthusiasm to them rather than punishing those schools that do just that. Preventing a minority from having a certain type of education is not the way to help improve the majority’s education. By and large, the complaint is that private schools are doing well and providing a good education, whilst state schools lag behind. It is in all our interests to set the standard of education as high as we can – you do this by raising state schools to the standard of private schools, not by depriving children of a private education.

negative: Home-schooling is not the best option for exceptional students. The state does not ignore or abandon individuals that have special needs and those with special needs are those that most need the state's enormous resources to focus on their requirements. Once a student has needs of such a magnitude that demands it, they are educated in special schools specifically intended to help them, with staff trained to possess skills beyond that of a parent's instinct. Even if it were the case that home-schooling is better for the specific needs of exceptional students, the benefits of education in a wider context override the objection to class-based education. The experience of growing up alongside less and more able students produces individuals with greater understanding of their society1. 1'Teacher perceptions of mainstreaming/inclusion, 1958-1995: a research synthesis' Scruggs, Thomas E. Mastropieri, Margo A. Exceptional Children (1996)

negative: Private schools provide a better education than state schools  In 2007, Time the US magazine discovered that private schools in the US received much higher SAT scores that the state counterparts. Research suggests that private education puts a greater emphasis on critical thinking, while state schools emphasise memory and learning by rote (time.com). These types of critical skills mean that students from private schools have a better start at university education as they are more used to what will be required of them. Furthermore, students from private schools are more likely to get into a university in the first place (Time, 2007/ BBC, 2010). In the US students are twice as likely to get the grades allowing them to go to university if they have had a private education, and for minority groups in America it is more than double (Capenet.org, 2001). This is likely to be replicated across the world. Private schools in Brazil also provide better education, as there is one teacher per 10 students in comparison to the 45-50 students per class in a government funded school. (Cabra; and Throssell 2010). Therefore by denying private education the effect may be disastrous for these minority groups.

negative: n science internet house would ban teachers interacting students social The law would be hard to enforce.  It would be difficult to find out whether a student and teacher have had contact over the internet. If a teacher were having a relationship with a student, and this law was in effect, both parties would try to conceal it from others and from the authorities. There is then a question about how the state would find out about such behaviour. Would the state be allowed to access private facebook accounts, personal computers, or internet service provider records to make sure teachers and students are not communicating with each other? That would constitute a serious intrusion and privacy violation.

negative: Setting homework with the intention of encouraging students to do well at tests is beneficial to students as much as it is to teachers and schools. National tests are a way of assessing whether students are at the level they should be, if they do well on the tests, that is a good thing. Therefore, a 'win' for the teachers and schools is also a great deal of learning for the student, the two need not be separated.

negative: Allowing students to study what they want or what they consider themselves to be good at would be a mistake. The point of education before university is to provide a good broad grounding that provides all the necessary life skills. This has to include harder subjects that would not be the first choice of the students. In the UK it has been suggested that the high pass rate for soft subjects like Media Studies of 98% has helped cause a decline in foreign language learning at A-level (16-18 years old). [1] Scientific research has shown how a second language can aid us past school years, for example the American Association for the advancement of science’s latest research shows the symptoms of alzheimer’s to occur later on in life in those who are bilingual in comparison to those who speak one language. The ability to speak more than one language enables people to communicate better and for longer. [2]  [1] BBC News, ‘Media Studies. Discuss’, 18 August 2005,   [2] Wheeler, David L., ‘Being Bilingual: Beneficial Workout for the Brain’, Chronicle of Higher Education, 20 February 2011,

negative: It is impossible to implement.  Students come from very different backgrounds and have very different skill-sets. This makes the attempt to define a measuring system that covers all cases a bureaucratic nightmare. Even if this succeeds, it is still very difficult to define what a 'good performance' is, because a student's individual performance is determined by many other factors than the teacher and also because an individual student's 'performance' is actually a complex set of attitudes, skills and abilities which are in and of themselves hard to operationalize in a standard test. And even if this succeeds, then the questions is how much of a student's performance is attributable to what specific teacher: oftentimes, at least in high school, students will have many different teachers, making it impossible to gauge what teacher was responsible for what test result.  Finally, it should be noted (per the argument included above) that merit based education does not encourage the dissemination and normalisation of best practice. A merit-based pay scheme is likely to collapse when too many of those who work under it meet its criteria for bonus payments, making it too expensive.  Once merit based pay becomes part of the structure of an institution, it will become hard to attract and retain staff if it is removed. Concurrently, performance at the same level will be expected by the public, although an institution may not be able to afford it. For the reasons stated above, good ideas are unlikely to be shared by teaching staff under a merit-based status quo, for fear that they may be giving away a competitive edge over their colleagues.  It might be better to raise standards in education by investing sustainably in improved training for teachers and improved facilities in schools, rather than creating an unsustainable merit-based reward system.

negative: culture general education education general house would make english official The segregation of students in this case is not a function of their language skills, but of their lack thereof. Simply placing non-English speakers in a normal school will not suddenly make them friends with everyone, especially if they cannot communicate. If there are other speakers of their language, they will likely form a separate social group with those students, speaking their home language among themselves, which will undermine efforts to teach them English. At the same time they will likely do poorly in school as they will struggle to comprehend the content of their classes. [1]  If other ESL students don’t exist, they will likely become socially isolated, with all the negative results this can potentially lead to such as depression or even in extreme cases suicide.  [1] Vaznis, James, ‘Boston students struggle with English-only rule’, boston.com, 7 April 2009,

negative: education general secondary crime policing house supports random drug testing Safeguarding the teacher-student relationship  Random drug tests change the student-teacher relationship from one of trust into one of suspicion, whereby the teachers and the school establishment become a body which many students will perceive as being out to catch them, and suspicious of all. The destruction of this trust makes it far harder for teachers to impart useful information on illegal drugs and the consequences of their use to students, and students may be less willing to seek teachers out on this information. This would lead to students relying increasingly on their peers and the internet for information on illegal drugs, and this information is far more likely to be of questionable policy or influenced by notions of drug use as 'cool' or glamorous. Thus schools' anti-drugs message may be harmed by random drug tests.

negative: culture general education education general house would make english official Bilingual education hurts students  Bilingual education segregates students in its system from those outside it. This limits the opportunities for interaction.  This is harmful in a number of ways. For one thing, it limits their interaction with peers who will speak English. While it’s possible they may practice English with their friends in a bilingual school, it seems unlikely, as it would be easier to talk in the existing language.  Furthermore, it also limits the exposure of English-speaking students to immigrants who don’t speak English, allowing negative stereotypes to arise out of ignorance that then can influence governmental policy through the ballot box.  Finally, this segregation may extend to within bilingual schools themselves, since not everyone seeking bilingual education has the same non-English language. The result might well be that students would group socially into groups based on country of origin, and due to simple demographics this would place the Spanish-speaking students at a significant advantage as there are nearly 30 million of them in the country. This polarization in turn could lead to splits between minority language groups that could reduce their overall social capital.

negative: Maths is not engaging for students  Maths is one of the least engaging subjects taught at school. Subjects like chemistry are full of flashes, fires and experiments which help people see what they’re being taught in front of them. History starts with telling stories, and even though that’s not what the subject is really about, it offers a window into it. By contrast, maths has almost nothing similar. Asking children to use trigonometry to find the height of a tree does not fool them – all they see is another triangle. Some people enjoy it, but many do not.  Forcing people through maths classes which they find boring and irrelevant will only put them off maths; a recent study found that motivation was the most important factor for improving maths grades. [1] This in turn makes their children less likely to study maths, and causes a cycle in which a large section of the population have as little to do with maths as they can. [2]  It would be much better to not make these people study maths. True, they would end up not knowing any more than the bare essentials, but this is better than making them hate it.  [1] Ghose, Tia, ‘Like Math? Thank Your Motivation, Not IQ’, Scientific American, 28 December 2012,   [2] Kreutzer, Laura, ‘Our Child Hates Math. Is It Our Fault?’, The Wall Street Journal, 14 April 2013,

negative: Young people are aware of the risks of military service and therefore would not be easily misled by military personnel  Young people are not stupid – they know that there are risks involved in joining the military. In fact the media usually focuses on the bad news coming out of Afghanistan and Iraq, ignoring the good work of our military there. A career in the military also offers young people a lot of benefits, and it is only right that they should get to hear about those as well. As Donald Rumsfeld noted, ‘for some of our (US) students, this may be the best opportunity they have to get a college education’1. In addition, no one is signed up on the spot in the classroom; they always get the chance to think about it over a few months or more, and to discuss the decision carefully with parents and peers. As such, military recruitment in schools should be seen as no less unethical than the visits to schools of policemen, for whom there is similar risk but little public conjecture.  1Vlahos, K. B. (2005, June 23). Heavy military recruitment at high schools irks some parents. Retrieved May 18, 2011, from Fox News:

negative: Sex education does not benefit conservative communities as sex education is not simply a provider of information. Rather, it entails at best an acknowledgement that kids will have sex regardless of what they are told, and at worst a positive endorsement of sexual activity. It is a shameful abrogation of responsibility on the part of adults to essentially allow children to make bad decisions. Sex education encourages students to make a choice, meaning more will make the wrong one. [1] Teaching children about sex will necessarily make them more prone to experimentation, and will likely cause them to view their peers in school in a sexualized context, leading to less focus in the classroom on study, and more on sex. Conservative and religious households have every reason to fear such developments.  [1] Pogany, Sex Smart, 1998

negative: Anonymity software helps to guarantee protection for people involved in uprisings  The past few years have been marked by an explosion of uprisings around the world, particularly in the Middle East, North Africa, and Arab world generally. These uprisings have all been marked by the extensive and pervasive use of social media and social networking tools, like Twitter, BlackBerry Mobile, and other platforms. The Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia, for example, wherein people mobilized to overthrow their dictator has even been called the Twitter Revolution after the huge number of people using that platform to lead and chronicle the successful uprising. 1 It was the sophistication of physical surveillance technology and the resourcefulness of the security forces that forced dissenters onto the internet, which quickly became, prior to the start of large scale demonstrations, the primary mode of expressing discontent with governments. But the internet is no safe haven, and technology has caught up, allowing governments to crack down on individuals who engage in dissent online. Anyone using the internet to coordinate demonstrations therefore faces the threat of being tracked and arrested as a result. This was the case in Iran after the failed Green Revolution, dissenters were rounded up and punished for challenging the government. 2 Without anonymity, participants in uprisings are liable to face reprisals. Only external help from the technologically advanced West can these freedom fighters maintain their safety and still be able to fight for what they believe in.  1 Zuckerman, E. “The First Twitter Revolution?”. Foreign Policy. 14 January 2011.   2 Flock, E., “Iran Gets Back E-mail Access, But Other Sites Remain Blacked Out Ahead of Protest”. Washington Post. 13 February 2012.

negative: Poetry is too difficult for school students  There are people who dedicate their lives to studying poetry and still have trouble understanding its meaning. If these people constantly debate the nature of poetry how can school children be expected to properly understand it? It is difficult to teach because poetry can have multiple meanings; “[U]ntil education theory asks itself what poetry itself is, and therefore what the teacher is trying to get across, poems will continue largely to figure as teaching aids, exercises and – for teenagers – increasingly tedious, somewhat arbitrary puzzles" [2] and therefore poetry will remain of little worth in the classroom.  The greatest poets write about adult experiences, e.g, love, work, history, politics, solitude etc. As a result great poetry requires an adult mind to grasp its full meaning and teaching it in schools means that students develop a disliking for poetry before they are even fully capable of appreciating it.

negative: Homework is a class issue. In school everyone is equal, but at home some people have advantages because of their family background. Middle-class families with books and computers will be able to help their children much more than poorer ones can. This can mean poorer children end up with worse grades and more punishments for undone or badly done homework. David Baker, a researcher, believes too much homework causes parents and children to get angry with each other and argue, destroying the child’s confidence 1. On the other hand pushy parents may even end up doing their kids’ homework for them – cheating and not helping the student learn at all.  1 Britt , 2005

negative: primary secondary teaching religion god science evolution house would teach Truth is a complex thing. Scientists claim to know what is true and that schools should only teach their truth. But their truth changes with time. Communities can hold, and desire to hold, beliefs with more constancy. States everywhere recognize the value of communities and often give them special rights and exemptions for the sake of those beliefs. The Amish in America, for example do not need to attend education past the primary level, because the communities do not desire it. Communities give structure and lend stability to broader society, so they should be allowed to behave with a degree of leeway in terms of issues like education. Creationism is a truth for those who adhere to it and see that evidence fits that paradigm more than does evolution. Until irrefutable proof of evolution is given, as the scientific community has yet to do, both paradigms are equally valid and should be available to students in the classroom.

negative: Not everyone will succeed in learning languages even if compulsory.  There are many people who will never excel in languages whether they are forced to learn it or not, and if they are not going to succeed then why waste all the time trying to make them succeed. With learning foreign languages there is a problem of anxiety in the classroom. This is particularly disabling as students must be able to speak up and be heard, usually by the whole class, in order to make progress. This anxiety is likely to be closer to panic than it would be in other subjects. [1] This not only affects those who are anxious but holds back those who are more able.  This will be even more pronounced with dyslexic children. They struggle with the written word and so will necessarily do even worse when studying foreign languages. Yet they can excel in other subjects such as mathematics. [2] It is therefore not sensible to make languages mandatory.  [1] Ehrman, ‘Understanding Second Language Difficulties, 1996, p.149  [2] ‘Dyslexia and Numeracy’,

negative: Marking homework reduces the amount of time teachers have to prepare good lessons  Irrespective of homework's educational value, marking it takes up much of teachers' time. Australian teachers have complained that 'homework marking can result in four extra hours of work a day and they are rarely rewarded for their effort'.1 This leaves teachers tired and with little time to prepare effective, inspiring lessons. If the lessons aren't to the standard they should be, the point of homework is lost as the students have little to practise in the first place. The heavy workload also puts young graduates off becoming teachers, and so reduces the talent pool from which schools can recruit.  1 Speranza, 2011


query: Now scientists are telling us that Mars is experiencing its own planetary warming: Martian warming.

positive: Mars ocean hypothesis The Mars ocean hypothesis states that nearly a third of the surface of Mars was covered by an ocean of liquid water early in the planet 's geologic history . This primordial ocean , dubbed Paleo-Ocean and Oceanus Borealis , would have filled the basin Vastitas Borealis in the northern hemisphere , a region which lies 4 -- 5 km ( 2.5 -- 3 miles ) below the mean planetary elevation , at a time period of approximately 4.1 -- 3.8 billion years ago . Evidence for this ocean includes geographic features resembling ancient shorelines , and the chemical properties of the Martian soil and atmosphere . Early Mars would have required a denser atmosphere and warmer climate to allow liquid water to remain at the surface .

positive: Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System , after Mercury . Named after the Roman god of war , it is often referred to as the `` Red Planet '' because the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance . Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere , having surface features reminiscent both of the impact craters of the Moon and the valleys , deserts , and polar ice caps of Earth .   The rotational period and seasonal cycles of Mars are likewise similar to those of Earth , as is the tilt that produces the seasons . Mars is the site of Olympus Mons , the largest volcano and second-highest known mountain in the Solar System , and of Valles Marineris , one of the largest canyons in the Solar System . The smooth Borealis basin in the northern hemisphere covers 40 % of the planet and may be a giant impact feature . Mars has two moons , Phobos and Deimos , which are small and irregularly shaped . These may be captured asteroids , similar to 5261 Eureka , a Mars trojan .   There are ongoing investigations assessing the past habitability potential of Mars , as well as the possibility of extant life . Future astrobiology missions are planned , including the Mars 2020 and ExoMars rovers . Liquid water can not exist on the surface of Mars due to low atmospheric pressure , which is about that of the Earth 's , except at the lowest elevations for short periods . The two polar ice caps appear to be made largely of water . The volume of water ice in the south polar ice cap , if melted , would be sufficient to cover the entire planetary surface to a depth of 11 m . In November 2016 , NASA reported finding a large amount of underground ice in the Utopia Planitia region of Mars . The volume of water detected has been estimated to be equivalent to the volume of water in Lake Superior .   Mars can easily be seen from Earth with the naked eye , as can its reddish coloring . Its apparent magnitude reaches − 2.91 , which is surpassed only by Jupiter , Venus , the Moon , and the Sun . Optical ground-based telescopes are typically limited to resolving features about 300 km across when Earth and Mars are closest because of Earth 's atmosphere .

positive: Martian A Martian is a native inhabitant of the planet Mars . Although the search for evidence of life on Mars continues , many science fiction writers have imagined what extraterrestrial life on Mars might be like . Some writers also use the word Martian to describe a human colonist on Mars .

positive: Extraterrestrial atmosphere The study of extraterrestrial atmospheres is an active field of research , both as an aspect of astronomy and to gain insight into Earth 's atmosphere . In addition to Earth , many of the other astronomical objects in the Solar System have atmospheres . These include all the gas giants , as well as Mars , Venus , and Pluto . Several moons and other bodies also have atmospheres , as do comets and the Sun . There is evidence that extrasolar planets can have an atmosphere . Comparisons of these atmospheres to one another and to Earth 's atmosphere broaden our basic understanding of atmospheric processes such as the greenhouse effect , aerosol and cloud physics , and atmospheric chemistry and dynamics .

negative: Colin Pillinger Colin Trevor Pillinger , CBE FRS FRAS FRGS ( -LSB- ˈpɪlɪndʒər -RSB- 9 May 1943 -- 7 May 2014 ) was an English planetary scientist . He was a founding member of the Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute at Open University in Milton Keynes , he was also the principal investigator for the British Beagle 2 Mars lander project , and worked on a group of Martian meteorites .

negative: The Crystal Crypt The Crystal Crypt is a science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick , first published in the January 1954 edition of Planet Stories and later published in Beyond Lies the Wub in 1988 .   The story is set in the distant future where Earth and Mars are on the verge of war . The last spaceship to leave Mars headed for Earth is stopped and searched by Martian soldiers , who are looking for three saboteurs who destroyed a Martian city . They are not found , and the ship continues towards Earth . On board the space ship , a business man by the name of Thacher meets a young woman and two men , who tell that they are the people sought by the Martians , and proceed to tell Thacher the story of how they did not destroy the Martian city , but used a device to reduce the entire city to fit in a tiny globe , which they smuggled on board the ship . The city is to be used as a bargaining chip against Mars in the upcoming war . Thacher reveals that he is a Martian secret agent , and several of the passengers on board are Martian police .

negative: Barnacle Bill (Martian rock) Barnacle Bill is a 40 cm rock on Mars in Ares Vallis . It was the first rock on Mars analyzed by the Sojourner rover using its Alpha Proton X-ray Spectrometer . The encounter occurred during Sol 3 of the Mars Pathfinder mission on the surface of Mars and took ten hours to complete .   Early analysis of data sent from Sojourner led scientists to speculate that the rock was andesite .   The name was inspired in mission scientists by barnacle-like structures on the rock that appeared in transmitted photos .

negative: The Great Global Warming Swindle The Great Global Warming Swindle is a polemical documentary film that suggests that the scientific opinion on climate change is influenced by funding and political factors , and questions whether scientific consensus on global warming exists . The program was formally criticised by Ofcom , the UK broadcasting regulatory agency , which upheld complaints of misrepresentation made by David King .   The film , made by British television producer Martin Durkin , presents scientists , economists , politicians , writers , and others who dispute the scientific consensus regarding anthropogenic global warming . The programme 's publicity materials assert that man-made global warming is `` a lie '' and `` the biggest scam of modern times . '' Its original working title was `` Apocalypse my arse '' , but the title The Great Global Warming Swindle was later adopted as an allusion to the 1980 mockumentary The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle about British punk band the Sex Pistols .   The UK 's Channel 4 premiered the documentary on 8 March 2007 . The channel described the film as `` a polemic that drew together the well-documented views of a number of respected scientists to reach the same conclusions . This is a controversial film but we feel that it is important that all sides of the debate are aired . '' According to Hamish Mykura , Channel 4 's head of documentaries , the film was commissioned `` to present the viewpoint of the small minority of scientists who do not believe global warming is caused by anthropogenic production of carbon dioxide . ''   Although the documentary was welcomed by global warming sceptics , it was criticised by scientific organisations and individual scientists ( including one of the scientists interviewed in the film and one whose research was used to support the film 's claims ) . The film 's critics argued that it had misused and fabricated data , relied on out-of-date research , employed misleading arguments , and misrepresented the position of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change . Later broadcasts corrected three errors in the original film .

negative: Planetary Instrument for X-Ray Lithochemistry Planetary Instrument for X-Ray Lithochemistry ( PIXL ) is an x-ray fluorescence spectrometer to determine the fine scale elemental composition of Martian surface materials designed for the Mars 2020 rover mission .

negative: Wallace (Martian crater) Wallace Crater is an impact crater in the Hellas quadrangle on Mars at 52.9 ° S and 249.4 ° W and is 173.0 km in diameter . Its name was approved in 1973 by the International Astronomical Union ( IAU ) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature ( WGPSN ) , and it was named after Alfred Russel Wallace .

negative: Maraldi (Martian crater) Maraldi Crater is an impact crater in the Argyre quadrangle on Mars at 62.2 ° S and 32.0 ° W and is 124.0 km in diameter . Its name was approved in 1973 by the International Astronomical Union ( IAU ) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature ( WGPSN ) , and it was named after Giacomo F. Maraldi .

negative: Corona (planetary geology) In planetary geology , a corona ( plural : coronae ) is an oval-shaped feature . Coronae appear on both the planet Venus and Uranus 's moon Miranda and may be formed by upwellings of warm material below the surface .

negative: WARM (AM) WARM ( 590 AM ) is a radio station licensed to the city of Scranton , Pennsylvania . The station is currently owned by Cumulus Media . The station is a Class B AM broadcasting station according to the Federal Communications Commission . WARM broadcasts with a power of 5,000 watts with two types of directional antenna signal patterns during daytime and nighttime . The antenna patterns of the signal in both instances are generally aimed towards the southeast with some signal aimed towards the northwest from its transmitting facility located 15 miles northwest of Scranton in Falls , Pennsylvania . WARM uses five , 495 feet high broadcasting towers to transmit its signal from that location . The station used to derive a portion of its programming from Scott Shannon 's The True Oldies Channel from Cumulus Media Networks .

negative: Tikhov (Martian crater) Tikhov Crater is an impact crater in the Hellas quadrangle on Mars at 51.1 ° S and 254.3 ° W and is 111.0 km in diameter . Its name was approved in 1973 by the International Astronomical Union ( IAU ) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature ( WGPSN ) , and it was named after Gavriil Adrianovich Tikhov .

negative: Warm Springs Historic District Warm Springs Historic District is a historic district in Warm Springs , Georgia . It includes Franklin Delano Roosevelt 's Little White House and the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation , where Roosevelt indulged in its warm springs . Other buildings in the district tend to range from the 1920s and 1930s . Much of the district looks the same as it did when Roosevelt frequented the area .   Evidence indicates that prehistoric man was the first to use the springs , and as when Roosevelt used the springs , the temperature was 89 ° F.

negative: Helmholtz (Martian crater) Helmholtz Crater is an impact crater in the Argyre quadrangle on Mars at 45.8 ° S and 21.3 ° W and is 111.5 km in diameter . Its name was approved in 1973 by the International Astronomical Union ( IAU ) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature ( WGPSN ) , and it was named after Hermann von Helmholtz .

negative: Freddy and the Men from Mars Freddy and the Men from Mars ( 1954 ) is the 22nd book in the humorous children 's series Freddy the Pig , written by American author Walter R. Brooks and illustrated by Kurt Wiese . It tells the story of the confrontation between Freddy and his friends , phony Martians , real Martians , and a circus con artist .

negative: An Inconsistent Truth An Inconsistent Truth is a 2012 documentary film written , produced , and featuring , nationally syndicated conservative talk radio host Phil Valentine and directed by Shayne Edwards . Valentine , a skeptic of global warming theory , interviewed scientists about the validity of Al Gore 's film An Inconvenient Truth and the facts presented within . What he is told by the scientists he interviews is that there is no consensus on the issue of global warming or climate change . The film argues that global warming proponents keep changing its label , basing their argument on what Valentine says is shaky scientific ground .

negative: Auki (crater) Auki is an impact crater in the Mare Tyrrhenum quadrangle of Mars , located at 15.76 ° S latitude and 263.13 ° W longitude . It is 40.0 km in diameter and was named after a town in the Solomon Islands , and the name was approved in 2015 by the International Astronomical Union ( IAU ) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature ( WGPSN ) .   Strong evidence for hydrothermalism was reported by a team of researchers studying Auki . This crater contains ridges that may have been produced after fractures formed with an impact . Using instruments on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter they found the minerals smectite , silica , zeolite , serpentine , carbonate , and chorite that are common in impact-induced hydrothermal systems on Earth . Other evidence of post-impact hydrothermal systems on Mars from other scientists who studied other Martian craters .

negative: Warm and Tender Warm and Tender may refer to :   Warm and Tender ( Olivia Newton-John album ) , a 1989 album by Olivia Newton-John  Warm and Tender , US title of The Song of My Life , an album by Petula Clark  Warm and Tender , an album by Charlie Watts

negative: Total equivalent warming impact Total equivalent warming impact or TEWI is besides global warming potential measure used to express contributions to global warming .   It is defined as sum of the direct emissions ( chemical ) and indirect emissions ( energy use ) of greenhouse gases .

negative: Gordon A. McKay Award The Gordon A. McKay Award is an annual prize given by the Meteoritical Society to the student who gives the best oral presentation at its annual meeting . This award honors the memory of Gordon A. McKay ( 1945 -- 2008 ) , a NASA planetary scientist specializing in lunar and Martian geochemistry . It was established in 2008 and comes with a prize of $ 1,000 and a certificate .

negative: Warm Springs Natural Area The Warm Springs Natural Area , also known as the Warm Springs Ranch , is located near the Moapa Indian Reservation in Clark County , Nevada , at an elevation of 2123 ft. The 1179 acre area is owned by the Southern Nevada Water Authority ( SNWA ) . The area is a natural oasis in the Mojave Desert . The oasis is fed by close to 24 natural warm springs and contains many naturally occurring California fan palms ( Washingtonia filifera ) , creating an ecosystem normally limited to the `` low '' Colorado Desert and so unique to the `` high '' Mojave Desert . The springs are the headwaters for the Muddy River .   The area is popular for residential and recreational uses . There are year round residents that own private property with homes . There are camping areas for recreational vehicles and a private , multi-use , recreation area owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ( LDS Church ) .

negative: List of scientists opposing the mainstream scientific assessment of global warming This is a list of scientists who have made statements that conflict with the scientific consensus on global warming as summarized by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and endorsed by other scientific bodies . As approximately 97 % of publishing climate scientists support the consensus on anthropogenic climate change , this list represents a minority viewpoint .   The scientific consensus is that the global average surface temperature has risen over the last century . Scientific opinion on climate change was summarized in the 2001 Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) . The main conclusions on global warming at that time were as follows :  The global average surface temperature has risen 0.6 ± 0.2 ° C since the late 19th century , and 0.17 ° C per decade in the last 30 years .  `` There is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities '' , in particular emissions of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane .  If greenhouse gas emissions continue the warming will also continue , with temperatures projected to increase by 1.4 ° C to 5.8 ° C between 1990 and 2100 . Accompanying this temperature increase will be increases in some types of extreme weather and a projected sea level rise . The balance of impacts of global warming become significantly negative at larger values of warming .   These findings are recognized by the national science academies of all the major industrialized nations ; the consensus has strengthened over time and is now virtually unanimous . The level of consensus correlates with expertise in climate science .   There have been several efforts to compile lists of dissenting scientists , including a 2008 US senate minority report , the Oregon Petition , and a 2007 list by the Heartland Institute , all three of which have been criticized on a number of grounds .   For the purpose of this list , a `` scientist '' is defined as an individual who has published at least one peer-reviewed research article in the broad field of natural sciences , although not necessarily in a field relevant to climatology . Since the publication of the IPCC Third Assessment Report , each has made a clear statement in his or her own words ( as opposed to the name being found on a petition , etc. ) disagreeing with one or more of the report 's three main conclusions . Their views on climate change are usually described in more detail in their biographical articles . Few of the statements in the references for this list are part of the peer-reviewed scientific literature ; most are from other sources such as interviews , opinion pieces , online essays and presentations .   NB : Only individuals who have their own Wikipedia article may be included in the list .

negative: Global Warming Policy Foundation The Global Warming Policy Foundation ( GWPF ) is a think tank in the United Kingdom , whose stated aims are to challenge `` extremely damaging and harmful policies '' envisaged by governments to mitigate anthropogenic global warming .   It promotes climate change denial . In 2014 , when the Charity Commission ruled that the GWPF had breached rules on impartiality , a non-charitable organisation called the `` Global Warming Policy Forum '' or `` GWPF '' was created as a wholly owned subsidiary , to do lobbying that a charity could not .  The GWPF website carries an array of articles `` sceptical '' of scientific findings of anthropogenic global warming and its impacts .

negative: Bianchini (Martian crater) Bianchini Crater is a crater in the Thaumasia quadrangle of Mars , located at 64.2 ° S latitude and 95.4 ° W longitude . It is 76.0 km in diameter and was named after Francesco Bianchini , and the name was approved in 1973 by the International Astronomical Union ( IAU ) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature ( WGPSN ) .

negative: WARM-FM WARM-FM is an American adult contemporary radio station based in York , Pennsylvania broadcasting at 103.3 MHz FM . It is owned and operated by Cumulus Media . WARM 's studios and offices are located off US 30 between York and Lancaster , PA. . Listeners in the Philadelphia region may have interference with WPRB , Princeton , New Jersey , which shares the same frequency , and WAPY , State College , Pennsylvania , at 103.1 as one drives northwest on US 322 or PA State Route 333 heading into Lewistown , Pennsylvania .

negative: Beam and Warming scheme In numerical mathematics , Beam and Warming scheme or Beam -- Warming implicit scheme introduced in 1978 by Richard M. Beam and R. F. Warming , is a second order accurate implicit scheme , mainly used for solving non-linear hyperbolic equation . It is not used much nowadays .

negative: Xanthe Terra Xanthe Terra is a large area on Mars , centered just north of the Martian equator . Its coordinates are and it covers 2465 km at its broadest extent . Its name means `` golden-yellow land . '' It is in the Lunae Palus quadrangle , the Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle , and the Oxia Palus quadrangle .  Images from Mars Express , Mars Global Surveyor , and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have revealed ancient river valleys and deltas . The deltas show many thin layers just as deltas on Earth . Scientists speculate that features in Xanthe Terra show evidence of precipitation on early Mars .

negative: Phoenix (spacecraft) Phoenix was a robotic spacecraft on a space exploration mission on Mars under the Mars Scout Program . The Phoenix lander descended on Mars on May 25 , 2008 . Mission scientists used instruments aboard the lander to search for environments suitable for microbial life on Mars , and to research the history of water there . The total mission cost was about US $ 386 million , which includes cost of the launch .   The multi-agency program was headed by the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona , under the direction of NASA 's Jet Propulsion Laboratory . The program was a partnership of universities in the United States , Canada , Switzerland , Denmark , Germany , the United Kingdom , NASA , the Canadian Space Agency , the Finnish Meteorological Institute , Lockheed Martin Space Systems , MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates ( MDA ) and other aerospace companies . It was the first mission to Mars led by a public university in NASA history . It was led directly from the University of Arizona 's campus in Tucson , with project management at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena , Calif. , and project development at Lockheed Martin in Denver , Colorado . The operational funding for the mission extended through November 10 , 2008 .   Phoenix was NASA 's sixth successful landing out of seven attempts and was the first successful landing in a Martian polar region . The lander completed its mission in August 2008 , and made a last brief communication with Earth on November 2 as available solar power dropped with the Martian winter . The mission was declared concluded on November 10 , 2008 , after engineers were unable to re-contact the craft . After unsuccessful attempts to contact the lander by the Mars Odyssey orbiter up to and past the Martian summer solstice on May 12 , 2010 , JPL declared the lander to be dead . The program was considered a success because it completed all planned science experiments and observations .

negative: Baldet (Martian crater) Baldet Crater is an impact crater in the Casius quadrangle of Mars , located at 23.0 ° N latitude and 294.6 ° W longitude . It is 180.0 km in diameter and was named after Fernand Baldet , and the name was approved in 1973 by the International Astronomical Union ( IAU ) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature ( WGPSN ) .

negative: Haldane (Martian crater) Haldane Crater is a crater in the Eridania quadrangle of Mars , located at 53.1 ° S and 230.9 ° W . It is 78.7 km in diameter and was named after J. B. S. Haldane , and the name was approved in 1973 by the International Astronomical Union ( IAU ) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature ( WGPSN ) .

negative: Martian Summer Martian Summer : Robot Arms , Cowboy Spacemen , and My 90 Days with the Phoenix Mars Mission is a book written by Andrew Kessler . The book documents Andrew Kessler 's three-month stint in mission control of the NASA Phoenix expedition , led by Peter Smith and based at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona . The mission attempted ( successfully ) to locate evidence of water on Mars .   Andrew Kessler is the Founder and CEO of Togather.com , an event marketing platform based in DUMBO . Formerly a Creative Director at HUGE , he co-produced Mars : The Quest for Life on the Discovery Channel and holds a degree in Mathematics from the University of California , Berkeley . Kessler is currently based in Brooklyn , NY .

negative: Oded Aharonson Oded Aharonson is Israely planetary scientist . Aharonson was a professor of planetary science at the California Institute of Technology , until he moved in 2012 to the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot , Israel . He has participated in many NASA flight missions , including Mars Global Surveyor , Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous , the Mars Exploration Rovers , and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter .   Aharonson 's research focuses on the geology of planetary surfaces , especially the role of water . He is deputy PI on the science team for Chronos , one of the proposals for the 2011 Mars Scout mission .

negative: Thermal Emission Imaging System The Thermal Emission Imaging System ( THEMIS ) is a camera on board the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter . It images Mars in the visible and infrared parts of the electromagnetic spectrum in order to determine the thermal properties of the surface and to refine the distribution of minerals on the surface of Mars as determined by the Thermal Emission Spectrometer ( TES ) . Additionally , it helps scientists to understand how the mineralogy of Mars relates to its landforms , and it can be used to search for thermal hotspots in the Martian subsurface .   THEMIS is managed from the Mars Space Flight Facility at Arizona State University and was built by the Santa Barbara Remote Sensing division of Raytheon . The instrument was named after the Greek goddess of justice .

negative: Global warming controversy The global warming controversy concerns the public debate over whether global warming is occurring , how much has occurred in modern times , what has caused it , what its effects will be , whether any action should be taken to curb it , and if so what that action should be . In the scientific literature , there is a strong consensus that global surface temperatures have increased in recent decades and that the trend is caused by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases . No scientific body of national or international standing disagrees with this view , though a few organizations with members in extractive industries hold non-committal positions . Disputes over the key scientific facts of global warming are more prevalent in the media than in the scientific literature , where such issues are treated as resolved , and such disputes are more prevalent in the United States than globally .   Political and popular debate concerning the existence and cause of climate change includes the reasons for the increase seen in the instrumental temperature record , whether the warming trend exceeds normal climatic variations , and whether human activities have contributed significantly to it . Scientists have resolved these questions decisively in favour of the view that the current warming trend exists and is ongoing , that human activity is the cause , and that it is without precedent in at least 2000 years . Public disputes that also reflect scientific debate include estimates of how responsive the climate system might be to any given level of greenhouse gases ( climate sensitivity ) , how global climate change will play out at local and regional scales , and what the consequences of global warming will be .   Global warming remains an issue of widespread political debate , often split along party political lines , especially in the United States . Many of the issues that are settled within the scientific community , such as human responsibility for global warming , remain the subject of politically or economically motivated attempts to downplay , dismiss or deny them -- an ideological phenomenon categorised by academics and scientists as climate change denial . The sources of funding for those involved with climate science -- both supporting and opposing mainstream scientific positions -- have been questioned by both sides . There are debates about the best policy responses to the science , their cost-effectiveness and their urgency . Climate scientists , especially in the United States , have reported official and oil-industry pressure to censor or suppress their work and hide scientific data , with directives not to discuss the subject in public communications . Legal cases regarding global warming , its effects , and measures to reduce it have reached American courts . The fossil fuels lobby has been identified as overtly or covertly supporting efforts to undermine or discredit the scientific consensus on global warming .