Teenager refuses to kill her chicken for a class project

[PineappleMama]

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I think classes like this an home economics should be required. My opinion, acquiring an fixing food is something you are guaranteed to need some time in your life to survive. You don't need to be able to read, wright or do math to survive. It helps but not knowing how is not going to kill you. Starving will.

EXACTLY!!!! Some parents just don't have the time to teach these things at home anymore (or like my mom just never thought to) so this would be a huge boon to the kids later in life.

And think how cheap a field trip to the farmer's market (or grocery store) would be... NO admission fee, parents could totally come... and they could learn how to pick ripe foods... compare costs... shop within your means... that all falls into Home Etc to me. And is 100% NEEDED no matter what career you end up choosing, whether you go to college or not... a comprehensive course like that would be worth its weight in gold for the good it could do these kids.

We had Math of Money at our school, but you know that no one even heard of it until after they'd flunked out of Algebra II? Algebra I and Geometry were required... then you needed a third and everyone took Algebra II, but MoM was there the whole time! I totally blew AII, it was BAD, aced Geo but Algebra and me just don't get along... so they put me in that and it was AWESOME! I thought then, and still think, that it's a shame more kids didn't know about it as everyone would have walked away with at least a little something they could use later... as opposed to AII where only those planning on pursuing certain goals would benefit from.

But as much as I feel about that you don't see me running for the School Board to try and do anything about it so I admit that I am not part of the solution... just blowing wishes out there.

 

[chocolate m'scovy]

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I agree- our economy is spiraling downhill, and sometime in the future everyone will have to learn to make do. The more you learn now, the better.

 

[deerman]

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I learn to kill chicken when i was a preteen , from my grandmother. You said you like to eat chicken....well the one you stole is only for meat

Sorry you have no right to steal chicken because they are going to be butcher. You even said you wished you had taken more. No you don't have to kill one....

As far as teens knowing where meat ,milk,and eggs come from....seen alot of adults today that don't know all the facts. Like only cows that have had a calf will give milk (calf taken to produce veal) Hens will produce eggs without roosters.....so yes I am sure not all teens know about how meat,milk ,and eggs are produced.

 

[welsummerchicks]

Well this one has taken some twists and turns.

Sometimes you stand up for something you believe in, and take a hit for it.

Maybe not everyone agrees it was the right thing to do or will really change anything. Maybe it was the wrong idea. Maybe it wasn't.

I think it's important for a kid to feel really strongly about things, and to learn to do things, and to see what the results are, good or bad. I think it's how kid's morals and citizenship principles are shaped and developed. I think it's a good process to go through.

If my kid was standing up for something decent s/he believed in sincerely, I'd want the kid to go through it and find out what the results are. I think kids only gradually learn to kind of channel their efforts toward an actual GOAL rather than a CAUSE. It's a hard and bumpy process.

 

[katheria]

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whitney, i understand where you are coming from....
it really sounds thou like you live in a smaller town...

In the big city you would be surprised how many people dont know where their food comes from nor do they care to know....
i live in a city of more than 3 million people...


this is a totally true story....

I took my mom grocery store shopping one day (she has health issues) she keeps chickens for her enjoyment(pets, eggs and meat)

we were talking at the store and passed by the egg section....

my mom said something like im glad i have my own chickens and dont have to buy eggs, they are soo $$$ now

(this was back awhile ago when eggs got up to 4 dollars a dozen in my area)

A lady in fancy clothes i guess was listening to us, she goes

" ewww you actually eat eggs from chickens?"

i said yes and they are better than store bought eggs, and taste better..where do you think grocery store eggs come from?

She answered " they are grown in a lab"


needless to say we just walked away.....

Our schools here do not even offer 4-H or any other type of class that even teaches anything remotely about where food comes from...


If our school had offered them, all three of my kids would have taken the class....

 

[Sootsie]

I agree there are some weird and stupid ideas about where food comes from i dont have any stories about that but i was brought up in a city and was under no illusion about where milk eggs meat came from, and yes kids do need educating in life skills, reading, writing, math home ec but come on do they really need to raise and kill a animal to learn where the meat in the local butcher comes from.

what is wrong with videos, books talks from trades people explaining how what and why. not every child is going to grow up and kill there own food, are you going to start to teach how to clean, load and fire a gun then take the children hunting in high school to show where venison comes from. the kids in that environment learn from there parents or family members as part of their way of life.

learning how to butcher a bird be it chicken or a game bird does not have to start by feeding raising getting to know that bird as if it were a pet then killing it, you just need a dead bird.

 

[Mom 2em All]

I read the first seventeen pages, but am now skipping to the end to put in my two cents worth.

It seems many people are fixing on the fact that she "knew" what was coming. If she did, that is okay. Perhaps she thought she could do it, but when it came down to it, she couldnt. Perhaps she was attached to her chicken, perhaps when it came down to it, she couldn't handle what was coming. Thats okay too.
I applaud her for standing up for her chicken. Perhaps too late, and running out of the class with the bird was the wrong way to handle it- but shes still a kid, and making kid choices. That is why the "kids" are still in school. They are still learning acceptable ways of handling lifes' dilemmas.

I live in a suburb, and chickens are illegal here. My kids will no doubt never process their own food. They will not hunt- unless somewhere along the lines of life, their personal views change. My kids can know where "food" comes from. In college, I had a course that showed film after film of slaughterhouses and food processing- had to learn the different cuts of meat, etc. There was an OPTIONAL field trip to the slaughterhouse. Never once was I required to "grow a cow" and butcher it myself. I think the school could have accomplished what they were trying to accomplish in that same way. It would have been more practical to take a processing field trip. "We are going on a field trip to XX farm, there you will have an opportunity to slaughter a chicken".

In highschool, we dissected frogs- they came already in formaldehyde. In advanced biology, we dissected cats that came from the animal shelter. Already dead. We didnt raise kittens, name them, then kill them.

I have never had to kill something to appreciate its value, its life. There are alternative ways to teach the cycle of life/death/where our food comes from without forcing a child to participate in the killing process.

 

[Ferrret]

Chicklett,

I don't think anyone here is truly upset about the fact that you stood up for what you felt was right. I think the main problem comes in about how you handled the situation.

There was little and conflicting reports about how the class was set up and that contributed to the problem. You have stated that it was a new program introduced to the school, so the school is at fault for not putting out proper information to students and parents. The school is also at fault for not offering an alternative assignment. In the best situation the school should not have had students naming or raising the chickens. They could have been raised on site, but kept out of main contact with the students. The school should have sent home notifications through the mail to parents of students in the class to make sure they were aware of the project and that there would be animal slaughter. Hopefully the school learns from this incident and reforms the program rather than getting rid of it.

Your actions, as they have been conveyed, were not the best either. You had 6 weeks to start a protest, inform parents and the community that the school was going to have students raise and kill chickens without proper permission. I have seen flash protests occur at my own school over teachers or staff doing something that was against some of the biggest rules. Stealing the chicken should have been a last resort if anything, after all other channels have been exhausted. If the teacher tells you no, get your parents and have them talk to the teacher. If they still say no, go to the principal, if they say know no, go to the school board, if they won't do anything then legal action is an option but likely too late. From what has been told, you only spoke to your teacher about the problem, then left school property with a chicken in tow.

Some people here are also upset about the outlets that were used to get the story out. Many of the groups that reported on the story are known to have a sharp bias and get people riled up which is why a couple are banned from being mentioned here. I do know that your story made local and even national news, but having it on activist websites will get people stirred up and angry. The debate has really turned away from your actions to what is right and wrong to teach in schools, and whether it is right or wrong to have students exposed to slaughter in person. People have conflicting opinions on that and those have come out here. Some parents would be wholly outraged if a black and white video of slaughter were shown to students, others wouldn't care about live slaughter as long as they got a permission slip. The compromise is to have a permission slip and alternative project for those that aren't permitted to participate. Schools do that for Sex Ed. classes all the time.

As for knowing where food comes from, some people need to see a slaughter to fully understand that a cow gets cut into steak, pigs get turned into bacon and ham and chickens get beheaded and plucked. People can acknowledge that animals are food without actually making the connection. Many, many people here have had experience with people commenting that eggs that come from chickens are bad and eggs from the store don't come from chickens. I have met people that were shocked to find out that milk comes from a cow's teats or that potatoes are grown underground. Some teens you know might be aware of where food comes from, but our society is moving farther and farther away from agriculture and people know and care less and less about where the food comes from.
Classes like yours are a good thing in the end, especially with some communities moving more toward some level of self sufficiency, but they should not force students to participate if it goes against their beliefs.

 

[welsummerchicks]

Maybe this has been dissected more than the chicken.

 

[Organics North]

Whitney, Thanks for joining us!
I respect you! You have a lot of courage and fortitude for a young person!!!! You are a rarity these days, a person who questions the status quo, questions authority, takes action even when social pressure is on. (IMO that is a skill they should teach in school

)....

Independent thinking... YES! However, the individuals belief should not be forced on others to comply with...... This is were my deep concern comes in with some of the "unmentionable" "rights" groups, whom attempt to force their ideology on others... (I just needed to say that!)

I find absolutes offending and inflammatory:

Kat's Silly Chickens :

You men need to learn a little Animal Compassion, instead of brutally killing 1 of earths creatures.

No matter what "side" statements like this come from they do nothing but divide.. The above statement is obviously not 100% correct...


OK,
Back to killing chickens in school. I am still opposed to it. It is against my "religion" if you will. Taking an animals life in a room potentially filled with Neanderthals, just wanting to kill and see blood is wrong for me... I would refuse to participate. Slaughter, for me is the deepest of humbling spiritual experiences, and one I refuse to share with folks that do not think the animals to be slaughtered life does not have significance beyond its nutritional value.

Be well

ON​