Teenager refuses to kill her chicken for a class project

[Chickerdoodle13]

From the news report it seemed as if she knew about the project and just "hoped" it wouldn't get funded. If that's the case, I don't think she should have taken the class! They also mentioned that classes was called "Livestock and Poultry production". Honestly, what did she THINK that class would be about??

 

[mom'sfolly]

I looked up other sites, including the school's site. They have a whole agricultural program at the school. It is clear that the kid knew beforehand that slaughtering chickens was part of the curriculum, and certainly when she was handed said chicken. I think the animal rights crowd has taken this and run with it. I doubt that the kids ran around the school covered in blood. I have no doubt that kids played with the heads, that the chickens flapped, and that someone pulled a foot tendon to see how it worked. Maybe high schools shouldn't be teaching animal slaughter, but certainly no kid who has ethical issues with it should sign up for the class!

I think people with a particular viewpoint have taken this episode to an extreme. They have an agenda that makes them portray this is the worst possible light.

 

[poltroon]

As I understand it, she never asked the teacher for an alternate assignment. The teacher gave alternate assignments to other students.

She "rescued" him... but as a meat chicken, he's unlikely to live a long happy life.

The suspension she got was for leaving school without permission, not for failing to kill her chicken.

Our high school ag program raises lambs and pigs.

 

[silkiechicken]

Quote:
And as a farming community, I bet most kids know where chicken meat comes from, so classes like the one mentioned might be a "why do we have to learn what we already know" type of deal.

 

[Cat Water]

This story makes me happy that I have a very nice, understanding science teacher. He says if we don't want to do a dissection, we will not have to do them and it will not affect our grade in any way. He also orders the organs and stuff from slaughterhouses so the animal was used for its organs and food. He doesn't belive in killing something just to dismantle it. Even at the end of the year, when we dissect fetal pigs, they are also from the slaughterhouse when they accidentally kill a pregnant sow, so there is no killing in my science classes.

 

[jojo54]

I still think she should have a choice. You can take the class to learn but should not have to participate in everything. I took a health class and we were to dissect cow eyeballs to learn about the parts of the eye. I was squeamish and refused. I don't need to see things "hands on" to know about them. I was not forced to participate nor penalized for not taking part.

 

[debilorrah]

Ok guys, this is copied from the chickens facebook page and explains that IT WAS TOO LATE TO DROP THE CLASS after they found out they would have to kill them:

"At the beginning of the semester, we were told we were going to be buying baby chicks, raising them for 5-7 weeks and then slaughtering them. When we were told this, it was too late to transfer classes. Assuming we didn’t have enough funding for the project, I wasn’t too concerned. Then all of a sudden, we have boxes filled with baby chickens and we were told to pick our own chicken. Obviously, I think this is wrong in many ways and my intent in this letter is to explain why I did what I did. I believe this is wrong because we were never asked to fill out a permission slip, we were told to raise our own chickens and I believe there should have been a choice.
Permission slips are widely used within school systems, mainly for field trips and movies. History classes are big on this because we watch rated R movies. These movies are not rated R because of their sexual content, nudity or language, but rather, because of their blood, gore and violence. What is involved in chicken slaughtering? Blood, gore and violence. So, I think that’s a pretty good reason for a permission slip. Also, some parents might object to this all together! Maybe they don’t want their children to have to experience this or perhaps they are a vegetarian family and don’t believe in the slaughtering of animals for food. Whatever the reason, like it or not, parents do have a say!"

This young lady has a very valid point. The school did NOT consider how the parents may feel about this at all.

 

[kla37]

Quote:
If you read the comments under the article and the information on their facebook page, your criticisms will be explained. This was a new class, and no one knew what they were going to do until the class started, and it was to late to transfer to another class. She did speak to her parents about it, and her grandmother. She did NOT know what was going to happen ahead of time.

 

[Sootsie]

im against children slaughtering animals in class period. i can not imagine it being allowed here in the UK. i agree our kids should be taught where our food comes from, the pros and cons of organic v factory production raised. and should it be deemed necessary to include the slaughter of the animals then a video of the killing process is enough. as for proceesing the dead bird then use ones slaughtered and brought into the school dead. I have never witnessed an animal being killed but i know the prepacked oven ready chicken im cooking once was alive my only wish is that i could afford free range oven ready meat but it is far too expensive. my chickens are pets with a bonus (eggs) and none will die by my hand but by mother natures if one needs culling to end its miserable life for health reasons then ill just have to call my son in law as i would be too scared of causing it more pain.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Quote:
If you read the comments under the article and the information on their facebook page, your criticisms will be explained. This was a new class, and no one knew what they were going to do until the class started, and it was to late to transfer to another class. She did speak to her parents about it, and her grandmother. She did NOT know what was going to happen ahead of time.

I don't completely agree with either the school or the girl in this scenario, but the kids still had 5-7 weeks to talk to their parents if they felt uncomfortable about slaughtering the animals. I think this whole situation arose out of miscommunication all around. Miscommunication from the school to the students, school to the parents, and most importantly children to parents (or even vice versa!). I know my parents were always very interested to find out what happened at school. If we didn't have an answer, they'd probe. I can't imagine why a parent would NOT take action if their daughter expressed concern about slaughtering a chicken. Whether I agreed with slaughtering or not, I know I'd be on the phone with the teacher should my child express discomfort with the whole thing!