jewe1z in booju_mooju

Bug Squashing Deer Hunting Toddlers

Mar 03, 2010 07:38

A friend of mine recently posted on her facebook something like "This morning I caught my 5 year old killing bugs in the garden and had to have a talk with him. Please teach your children to respect life ( ... )

Comments (42)

Prev.

sarawr

I draw the line pretty near where your friend does -- I teach my kid to be respectful of all life, including bugs and plants. It has a lot to do with my personal spiritual beliefs, though, and I'm not particularly shocked or appalled that most people are fine with squishing bugs, picking plants willy-nilly, etc. It's not an "everyone should do this" belief so much as it is an "it's important for us to do this" one.

Reply

daemon82

I'm sort of with lustychan up there. Unless you have a reason to kill something, don't (bugs in the house can be squashed/sprayed, bugs in the forest should not be, and some bugs are ok in places where others aren't - like ladybugs in the garden). Killing something for food is ok, killing something just to have a trophy on the wall is not. And if for any reason, you must kill something, you should do so in a respectful and quick way. That means no tearing wings off of flies or shooting a deer and then watching it struggle as it slowly bleeds to death.

Reply

alacrity_danger

Killing bugs is mean and I hope my daughter doesn't ever do things like that. We would certainly end up having a chat.

I come from a family of hunters and the whole thing horrified me. I hope my daughter does not see such things until she is much older.

Reply

boomstick

To be honest I'd rather see a kid growing up learning to hunt and use what he kills instead of hanging around pulling the legs off of bugs just for funsies.

Also I think it's hard for a child to understand that bugs are living creatures too...a lot of them resemble plants. They don't really make noise when they're hurt. They don't have facial features that show pain. So I think a lot of kids don't understand that bugs feel pain as well. It's good to let your kid know that bugs DO feel pain as much as we do, but the message might get lost if they see you swatting a fly or flicking an ant or something. But at least let them know.

Reply

summer_mommy

Well -- I am of the party that scolds my daughter if she just starts stomping on bugs. I don't feel that there is any reason to stomp on bugs just for "fun." Especially if they are out side. I don't make a huge deal of it, but I do redirect her to something else.

As for taking a toddler deer hunting... I am a vegetarian. So noone would be taking my kid deer hunting, period. lol. (For the record, my daughter is being raised eating meat and will be able to make her own decision when she is older). But I wouldn't want my grade schooler going out hunting where there are guns and potential for nasty gun-related accidents anyway.

Reply

Prev.

jewe1z in booju_mooju

Bug Squashing Deer Hunting Toddlers

Comments (42)

sarawr

daemon82

alacrity_danger

boomstick

summer_mommy

Advertisement