PHS Digital Journalism Project: Why Take Forensic Science?

By Jenelle Jensen

Lynette Jensen, a student here at Portland High School took forensic science this year as an elective. ¨It was fun, beneficial, and had an impact on me¨ she said. According to the counselor Paige Patterson, Portland High School has offered forensic science at least once a year for the last 15 years, which indicates that not only Lynette, but many other students find it valuable. Not only is the class popular but forensic science careers have hit a rise. According to forensic science technicians from the ¨Bureau of Labor Statistics¨, the job outlook in America is 11% which is much faster than average. Forensic Science is the application of science (chemistry, physics, and biology) used for crime scenes and murders. A career in forensic science can be an exciting and worthwhile opportunity, with room for specialization, growth and you can experience many unique challenges.

Anyone who takes forensic science will be able to understand and learn about crimes, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) says students will be able to know how to prevent violent crimes from happening to them, learning that information would make students feel safer each day. That information would especially be important with all the crime that has been going on recently in Michigan. According to ¨Neighborhood Scout¨, there have been 49,765 violent crimes so far this year and 38% of Michigan's gun deaths were from homicide. By taking forensic science students will be able to identify many crimes that can happen to us, this is supported by the student Lynette Jensen. She states, ¨I would recommend students to take a forensic science class because it makes you more aware of all of the crimes that can occur and the impact they have on us¨. If students take forensic science, they will be able to use the problem-solving skills that they learned to figure out everyday problems that can occur. The forensic science teacher at Portland High School, Megan Brown says ¨it is a good class to develop good critical thinking skills, I hope students can take what they learned from forensics and apply the critical thinking skills for real life.¨ She says she encourages her students to have a scientific mindset to solve problems. John Jensen, who used forensic science skills in his air force police work says ¨I enjoy using forensic science skills when I am able to use them to figure out which person did the bad thing, one time I noticed my money going down in my bank account and I was able to figure out who was doing it.¨ Lynette Jensen says ¨I learned and will always remember how to tell the differences between fingerprints and can easily tell if those are my fingerprints on something or not.¨

¨Forensic science class is fun¨. Says the forensic science teacher Megan Brown. It benefits students even if they aren't planning on going into a forensics career. Mrs. Brown states ¨The forensic science class covers all things that have to do with criminalists, we study things like when bugs arrive at a crime scene and how it can help determine time and death (entomology), anthropology, anything that is going to help scientist find a solution to the crime.¨

The University of New Haven's Forensic Science program highly encourages students to go into some sort of forensic science career in their future. According to forensics college, forensic science careers have a higher pay than most jobs and it only requires a bachelor's degree. At the end of the day a career in forensic science usually has high pay, useful skills for everyday lives, and isn´t just like another desk job, it's exciting and fun!

This article is part of a series written by PHS Digital Journalism students taught by Ms. Chandra Polasek. The articles were written for posting on The Portland Beacon. All articles are original work of the students.