Does the Princess deserve a pass?

[Deleted]

It's Friday and I have wine, so here's a hot item from the local news,
www.click2houston.com/news/parents-upset-after-rabbits-killed-in-high-school-cooking-class/31531932

"The mother of a Cypress Fairbanks ISD student reached out to us after learning her daughter's culinary class would be killing a rabbit in school. She said the school never informed the parents and left it up to the students if they wanted to witness it.

"It is a culinary class. They didn't need to show them how to kill an animal," said parent Misty Stoll."

Basically, we are talking about a high school student who voluntarily enrolled in an elective class, a class whose instructor advised students that killing, butchering and preparing a rabbit was on the agenda and that they could opt out of the killing part if they wanted to without penalty.

My feeling is that the not-so-little Princess (it's High School, not Elementary) needs to get over herself.  Where in Hell does she think her chicken nuggets or her burger come from?  Hey sweetie, the sausage on your McMuffin and the pepperoni on your pizza come from dead animals!  The rabbits in question probably had a much better life and a much more humane end, than 90% of the commercially processed meat,poultry and fish she eats.  Disclaimer here:  I am NOT a vegetarian.  But I am completely aware of where my proteins come from and how they got onto my plate.  

Okay, talk among yourselves.  

[Deleted]

I don't understand what the problem is. She doesn't have to witness the killing so it's not like she's going to fail. What is the mother asking for?

[Green Eyed Lady]

I agree the parents should have been notified in advance, which is what I think the mother's main issue is. I know I'd want to be notified so I got the chance to sit down with my child and talk about it beforehand. I understand the teacher gave the students an option to leave the room when the rabbit was killed, but that's the part that kind of stymies me. If the kids don't need to be in the room while the animal is killed, why kill it all in the schoolroom? It's either a necessary part of the class or it isn't. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

I don't get it, is there no hunting in Texas? 
We are not vegetarians, but we aren't hunters. Even we understand that animals must die for us to eat. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

And what about the poor froggies in science class? Did she protest that experiment?

[Ryan]

This story is weird. Do they normally kill the animals they cook in a culinary class? And a rabbit? What the hell?

No, the parents have the right to call 'what the he'll' in this case.

[Tiny]

I'm a little confused by this, as well.

"She was very upset and very confused about what to do," Stoll said.

The teacher told students they could leave the room while the animal was killed, but Stoll decided to keep her daughter home.

I'm not sure why the mother kept her daughter home from school that day. I get it that some kids are more 'sensitive' than others and that confronting the hard cold fact that animals die (especially cute furry ones) so people can eat them is disturbing... but, the kid is a sophomore in HS - that's got to be, what, 15 or 16 years old? Maybe it's time for the kid to face and deal with the Big Existential questions. I'm not sure letting the kid stay home was the right thing to do. I'm NOT saying the kid should have attended that particular class that day - but missing the entire day? You can't keep your kid 'innocent' for their entire life.

I'm wondering why they were killing and cooking a rabbit - and not something like a chicken... it was a "culinary" class so maybe it was geared more towards the out of the ordinary cooking.

[cronewitch]

We raised rabbits and dad killed some for eating, they are good meat and easy to kill. I don't see why the mommies needed to be warned since the students were. We had to disect fetal pigs in college and my lab mate left before class started because I was telling her I forgot we were doing that and had a pork roast thawing at home. Some people can't tolerate seeing the killing. I didn't look when the teacher killed a frog in an inhumane way, I stayed in class but just didn't look. He cut the top of the head off while alive and scrambled the brain.  No need to kill to show kids who don't need to know about frogs.

[ArchietheDragon]

The mom needs to teach her daughter a lesson that animals are just animals.  She should make her kill their family pet and then butcher it.  That would teach the little princess.

[mollyanna58]

Feb 28, 2015 7:30:10 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

The mom needs to teach her daughter a lesson that animals are just animals.  She should make her kill their family pet and then butcher it.  That would teacher the little princess.

Not funny. 

[Shooby]

  I personally don't see a place for that in School. Yes, meat comes from killing animals.  But, I don't think that is the role of the School necessarily in this case.  I am not a vegetarian. I love beef, chicken, pork, etc. I KNOW where the meat comes from. But, I have personally never hunted or killed an animal in my entire life. So, there is really no reason to do this.  I think it would be a much more valuable skill to take a field trip to the grocery store, or even behind the scenes at the local meat market and learn about various cuts of meat, how to prepare them, which cuts are better for which type of dishes, etc.

[teen persuasion]

Hey, I want to take that class!

I remember in HS some of my friends refused to take Human Anatomy because of the fetal pig dissection.  Um, didn't you do the frog dissection in Bio?  I remember dissecting a cow's eye in 8th grade IPS, too.  What is the difference? Now that I think of it, some HS are going to virtual dissection.  Video gamification of education.

I just don't understand "protecting" kids from reality.  Has that family never eaten a recognisable piece of meat, like a chicken leg, or a roast turkey?  Gone to a pig roast?

[endofera]

I think everybody knows that meat comes from animals.  We raise cattle and I have a freezer full of beef but I don't want my kid killing an animal in class.  

I question that this is a "learning" experience.  Restaurants do not get deliveries of live animals and kill them on site.  So I'm not sure how this action of killing the rabbit in class relates to culinary learning. 

  

[8 Bit WWBG]

I think ignorance is bliss, and I love that I live in a society where I can eat the results of the kill without having to do the kill myself.  I respect our hunter/gatherer ancestors who had to hunt down what they ate.  I don't, and I don't want to watch what I eat die.  I already have enough to feel bad about in my life, I don't want to have another serving of guilt.  I don't want to see the proverbial man behind the curtain.

Otherwise, we need to go completely in the other direction.  People should have to work in the factories where our clothing and our electronics are made.  Lets go live the life of a tomato picker, or a coffee harvester.  Lets visit a diamond mine.  Everyone should have to spend a week in prison, and work as a first responder.

[Shooby]

I have never killed and prepared my own meat. So, I don't see the point.

[billisonboard]

I wasn't too sure about this either so I did a little research. Didn't find anything else about the wascally wabbit but I did find this involving the district: LIVESTOCK SHOW AND SALE EXPECTED TO SURPASS PREVIOUS YEAR’S TOTAL February 10, 2015 Seems to be an area that is into country living. Makes a little more sense to me now.

[MarleyKeezy78]

Does she object to throwing a live lobster or crab into boiling water? Not the worst thing to learn, you may one day end up is a survival situation (not likely but still) and that one lesson could come in handy. If you object that strongly, skip class that day   

[zibazinski]

You now have the choice about frog dissection. I wish I had.

[billisonboard]

I wonder if the teacher just get a wild hare up his/her ass and decide to kill and cook it or is this a normal thing done in the class each year? 

[goldensam]

I hardly think it makes someone a princess to not want to watch an animal die. I'm 30 and it would absolutely horrify me. 

[Shooby]

Feb 28, 2015 10:00:13 GMT -5 MarleyKeezy78 said:

Does she object to throwing a live lobster or crab into boiling water? Not the worst thing to learn, you may one day end up is a survival situation (not likely but still) and that one lesson could come in handy. If you object that strongly, skip class that day   

is it the job of the School to teach 'survival skills"?  If so, fine. Then why aren't they teaching canning, starting a fire, purifying water and on and on? 

There is NO reason to do a live kill of an animal in school. If it is that important to you, then as a parent, you may demonstrate that to YOUR child.

[Tennesseer]

Feb 28, 2015 7:47:36 GMT -5 mollyanna58 said:

Feb 28, 2015 7:30:10 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

The mom needs to teach her daughter a lesson that animals are just animals.  She should make her kill their family pet and then butcher it.  That would teacher the little princess.

Not funny. 

I may be wrong but I believe Archie forgot to add the sarcasm emoticon at the end of his post.

[Tennesseer]

Take the culinary class to a calf slaughter house.  Let them experience the beginning to end process how those cute calves ends up in styrofoam packaging on their supermarket meat department shelves as veal.

I prefer to believe cattle cells were grown in the styrofoam packaging and turned into NY strip steaks. Of course I am deluding myself because I know if I ever observed the operations of a slaughter house, I would never eat meat again.

[zibazinski]

I think this is a horrible thing to do. I'm sorry but that's not a place I'd want my child to attend. That teacher is a nut job.

[Phoenix84]

I don't see what the issue is. In fact, I think it's probably a good thing to show students that their mean came from a living thing. This shouldn't be news to anyone. As others have said, it was also optional.

[Tennesseer]

Feb 28, 2015 11:05:15 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

I think this is a horrible thing to do. I'm sorry but that's not a place I'd want my child to attend. That teacher is a nut job.

It's not as if freshly butchered and cleaned rabbit could not be bought locally.

I cannot speak for the students at this particular school and district, but I do know in this day and age, at least in our country, most of us don't need to slaughter our own food.

[billisonboard]

How was this presented? 

"Students, I would like to present you with a unique opportunity. On Friday, I will be butchering, preparing, and cooking a rabbit. I understand that not all of you will wish to participate, and I fully respect that, so there will be an alternative assignment you can complete in the library that day. Please think about it, talk it over with your parents, and let me know which you will be doing that day."

Or

"Hey kiddos. Friday I'm gonna kill, gut, and fry me up some rabbit. I know some of you wussies won't be able to handle it so you can just go to the library that day and do some busywork I pull out of a book."

[zibazinski]

[zibazinski]

Feb 28, 2015 11:09:06 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Feb 28, 2015 11:05:15 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

I think this is a horrible thing to do. I'm sorry but that's not a place I'd want my child to attend. That teacher is a nut job.

It's not as if freshly butchered and cleaned rabbit could not be bought locally.

I cannot speak for the students at this particular school and district, but I do know in this day and age, at least in our country, most of us don't need to slaughter our own food.

Sorry, the yeah that was for that post.

[Shooby]

Well, I am on the School Board and I would not be in support of this type of demonstration. I don't think it is necessary to a child's school education.