In recent years, I have seen mentored student research—conducted in professional laboratories, under supervision, and following institutional safety practices—evaluated through a lens that treats sophistication itself as a red flag. In these settings, risk is no longer assessed in context, but inferred from labels: whether something sounds biologically active, advanced, or unfamiliar. The result is a growing tendency toward prohibition rather than education.

This shift has consequences. Safety in science is not achieved by avoiding challenging work; it is achieved by teaching how risk is evaluated and mitigated. Laboratory safety is contextual, grounded in training, engineering controls, and supervision. When those principles are replaced by categorical exclusions, students are not learning safety—they are learning avoidance.

The most concerning impact is not on any single project or competition, but on the culture we are creating for the next generation. When students see that careful, supervised inquiry can be shut down simply because it crosses an ill-defined line, they internalize a damaging lesson: that curiosity is dangerous, that advanced questions are off-limits, and that science is something to engage with only once one has already been credentialed. That message quietly but effectively drives talented students away from chemistry, biology, and related fields.

This trend reflects a broader anxiety in science education. Oversight mechanisms, designed to protect students, are increasingly shaped by risk aversion rather than expertise. In the process, they risk undermining the very pipeline they are meant to safeguard. Authentic research experiences—where students learn how science actually works—are replaced by sanitized exercises that prioritize compliance over discovery.

There is a better path. Safety and discovery are not opposing values. With transparent oversight, subject-matter expertise, and early mentorship, students can engage meaningfully with complex science while learning responsibility. If we want the next generation to enter science equipped with judgment rather than fear, we must ensure that our educational systems teach them how to engage with complexity—not how to retreat from it.