Tennessee 'Monkey Bill' Becomes Law

A new law in Tennessee gives teachers the ability to engage in critical thinking discussions in public schools over the validity of generally accepted, though controversial, scientific theories. The bill names evolution, global warming, human cloning and the chemical origins of life as examples of such theories and practices.
http://www.nature.com/news/tennessee-monkey-bill-becomes-law-1.10423

I'm not sure what to think here...I thought that the whole point of science was to use scientific facts to critically examine theories and make judgements based on those findings and the many findings of others. If you do that, you don't need a bill like this...All it seems to be doing, and I think this is the point, is opening up the doors of unfounded skepticism, and the spreading of information that may not be totally or completely true.

I was watching Ancient Aliens...and if you "open the discussion" these people would talk your ears off with all the 'facts' and 'evidence'. If you simply open the discussion, a lot of misinformation, or misunderstanding of the information, can greatly affect how you view a theory. Listen to the Ancient Alien crowd alone and you might be convinced. Listen to an expert counter, and you realize that the "glider model" that is obviously brought by aliens turns into a god-like bird that is depicted in a number of ways, all over the region.

I hesitate to "open the discussion" in the classroom, simply because not all people have the facts right, not all people have all the facts, grade school teachers aren't experts, most of us simply aren't educated enough to REALLY understand a lot of scientific theory, and a lot of people are set, no matter what, in their beliefs on this stuff...It just seems like a bad idea...

It's like getting a bunch of 3rd graders together, telling them Santa's not real and then saying "but let's open the discussion." They come up with facts like: They magically get presents christmas morning. The cookies and milk are gone. You got the gifts you wanted after sending him a letter. The tag says "You're on the 'good' list." There's a boot print by the fireplace...all that points to Santa coming to your chimney every christmas...except for the fact that he's not real and it's your parents. But if you never thought it was your parents, why would you think any differently given that evidence and your background knowledge? I just think most teachers that would really 'open the discussion' on these issues would have preconceived ideas, find evidence to back that up, and fail to make a fair argument, no matter what the science actually said.