Teenager refuses to kill her chicken for a class project

[Buff Hooligans]

In the olden days, these concerns would have taken place between the girl, maybe her family, and the school.

Nowadays, the entire internet universe is involved and gets all hepped up, upset, carrying torches and arguing with each other. It's ridiculous.

 

[Rozzie]

For those of you that have issues with the source, have you taken two minutes to google for other articles? This particular link is just one of many that is online, as the student involved in the particular situation pointed out in this very thread. It's made national news networks, so there are other sources out there. Chicklett's Facebook page has many of these copied over or linked, as well. Perhaps you might wish to take some time to read those before speaking against her actions based on one source that you don't like.

Also, remember that this young lady has participated in this very thread. You might read some of her statements here.

 

[Rozzie]

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And, in the old days, rape was an issue between the woman, her family, and the attacker. Everyone else just assumed she had it coming. In the olden days, lynching was mostly ignored. In the olden days, a man being beaten by a gang of white thugs just because of the color of his skin was mostly ignored. In the olden days, there were times when people were arrested for refusing to salute the flag. In fact, we have had murders in our country over this with no prosecution of the offenders. In the olden days, you could beat your dog to death in a public place and no one did anything except tell their kids to be careful around you. In the olden days, we locked mentally retarded people up in closets in our society. In the olden days, people condoned torture for minor offenses. In the olden days, people could be hung for stealing a loaf of bread. In the old days, people owned other people and could kill them without punishment by the law. Yet, we don't accept that anymore. In the old days... well, that's about enough examples of things that have (thankfully) changed in our society. The thing is, for a long time, no one much cared about any of this, either.


Now, don't start in and say I'm equating killing a chicken with killing a person. I'm not. I'm merely pointing out that standards do change over time. It takes torch carriers to bring change.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

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Well, in fact I did go out and read all the news articles concerning this I could find. News articles, not blogs or animals rights advocacy sites. There weren't many to find.

http://www.ksn.com/news/local/story...o-chickens-rescue/0UkTvPMyQUKhnLqJ8toLQA.cspx

"I thought it was incredibly wrong that we were just going to raise a bunch of chickens just to slaughter them and for no purpose,” Whitney said. “I think we can all look at a chicken on our plate and know that it comes from a chicken without having to raise 40 of them and slaughter them."

Whitney hoped the class project wouldn’t get funding. When it did, it was too late to transfer and she wanted out. She says she asked for an alternate assignment to no avail. The school gave Whitney a chicken, which she named Chicklet and raised at school. But last week, Chicklet’s final hours were approaching.

http://www.saljournal.com/news/story/chicklett10-19-10
Hillman got in-school suspension for two days — for leaving school without permission, not for stealing the chicken, she says — and got a still-respectable grade of 85 out of 100, although others in her group each got a 90.

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/10/22/2344581/teen-saves-pet-chicken-from-slaughter.html
In a written statement Friday, Concordia Principal Greg Errebo said the chick project was beneficial in teaching the process of raising animals from birth to consumption.

“We come from an agricultural part of the nation, and our students need to understand that food doesn’t magically appear on our plates at home or in a restaurant,” Errebo said. “Animals are used to feed us, and there is a process in the raising of those animals from birth to consumption.

“These students learned that process in a class taught by a dedicated and caring teacher.”

Whitney said the other students, who had digested their birds, had not chided her for choking.

Her mother contacted Karen Davis, president of (unmentionable animal rights group), a national non-profit group that campaigns against inhuman treatment of poultry.



Which puts a little different complexion on the matter. Knew what was involved and waited until it was too late to get out, but still got a B anyway. This is looking more and more like a tempest in a tea kettle to me.

 

[NellaBean]

In the olden days, nobody gave a rat's behind about whether a kid wanted to kill a chicken or not. Don't wanna kill a chicken? Then go hungry tonight and go grab a switch while you're at it. I didn't read all this thread either....mostly hopped on to see what could possibly be exciting enough to talk about for 14 pages.....in my high school years, had this been an issue, I would have gone to MamaBean who would have made a few phone calls and suprise I would have been in a different class by the end of the first week.

Failing that, if I was stuck in the class and didn't want to kill the chicken, decided to STEAL the chicken and leave school grounds without permission in the middle of the day.........I darn well would expect some punishment. She is lucky she only got a B in the class and not an F, and wasn't punished more severely in the other aspects as well. My butt would be on FIRE if my mama found out I had done something like that.

I think the punishment was fitting. She didn't fail the class but was punished for breaking rules. Guess what, in a couple years whenshe's an adult she could go to jail for pulling a stunt like that, or have it on her "permanent record". Its her right to refuse to slaughter but she needs to accept the consequences, which were not out of line. Should be a good learning experience for everyone involved, unless of course all the drama reduces the consequences.....at which point I'm assuming she would learn, as have most kids in the US these days, that complaining, stomping of feet, whining and passing the buck are the way to go.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

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Read them.... Aline your self with agenda pushes expect to be treated like one. Besides she made it clear that she has an agenda an will put as much spin on the story is it takes to push that agenda. So to me, the "facts" strait from the horses mouth is the most questionable part of the whole story.

 

[kathyinmo]

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Isn't it the truth! I totally agree!

 

[Orchid]

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Amen!

 

[Rozzie]

The teacher, principal, and school district also have an agenda. At this time, they have an agenda that includes protecting themselves from costly lawsuits. They are also trying to insulate themselves from the tremendous amount of negative publicity that this has brought them. Without documentation, I'm not inclined to believe that students were clearly informed of the full nature of the requirements of this course.

Even if they WERE informed of the requirements, I'd say that after working with the chicks for a month, students should have an option to completely opt out of the kill process INCLUDING the post-kill processing. Since they were each expected to care for a single bird, they should have an option to opt their bird out, too. With the way this project was designed, these were not anonymous birds in a big flock. Students had the chance to become intimately familiar with the personality of their specific bird and to gain connections to it, just as they would a kitten or a puppy that they had raised and cared for since its birth. An option that could have helped prevent student attachments to specific animals would have been to put numbered bands on the birds and not assign specific birds to individual students (or student groups).

Killing something is a final step. It's an action that can't be taken back. Even if a teen thought they could do this, but then upon further reflection learned they were not able to do so, isn't that something that this class should also acknowledge as a mature decision? Whitney DID learn where food comes from as a result of this class. She learned about chickens. She learned that she could not justify the death of Chicklett (and perhaps other chickens or other animals) for food. That is just as valid a lesson, I'd say, as learning how to slice an animal's throat, gut it, and pluck it.

Also, it sounds to me like pressure was applied for her to participate in the slaughter by threatening her grade in the course. The decision to go ahead and grant a fair grade -- though lower than the rest of her group -- was probably a result of the post-project reactions after she took a stand. It may also have been an attempt to stave off a lawsuit.

 

[ZooMummzy]

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I've been reading and rereading the threads, the articles, the blogs and all the posts on Chicklett's FB page and I think what it comes down to for me is I am very proud of any person - adult, teenager, child - who stands up and acts upon their beliefs. I don't care what those beliefs are or whether I agree with them or not. They do and they feel strongly enough to say so and I like that. I'm not talking about breaking the law or committing a crime (she broke rules, NOT laws). I'm talking about taking a stand and standing firm no matter what the consequences, punishment, fall out, etc. I admire that in a person and we always need more people like that, especially young people. As the mother of 4 (ages 13 to 18) teenagers, this is a quality I have nurtured in them from birth and will continue to so so. I let my kids use their minds and act upon their thoughts. As long as they act within the law, they never receive my wrath or punishment. I am very pleased and extremely proud to say any of them would do exactly what Whitney did in this situation. They are strong, independent minded people and that is something to be looked on in a positive light. I understand I am a different kind of parent, but I don't care. I take a stand on what I believe in too. So to you Whitney, as I said on FB - "way to go!" You are a strong person and this trait will carry you far in life.