If you're a parent would you think this was ridiculous if I pulled you aside after school for this?

Ok, so fleas, nits etc. definitely get exterminated. If a load of ants are coming in or infesting along the outside walls we’d be likely to put down ant powder.

If a child stamps purposefully on a bug when you have had a lesson about the topic, they need reminding but not a punishment recorded point for a first offence.

Where has @PassMeTheCookies said this, you’re making stuff up! Your reply doesn’t even remotely correspond to what you’ve quoted🤣

Pretty sure the pig suffered a whole lot more cruelty than the squished bug

The child is probably copying the behaviour of their parents so not sure you would get very far talking to them.

We don't kill creatures unless they are annoying, irritating or scaring you, damaging your food for property, dirty or diseased or they taste good.

Why is putting a spider outside a certain death? Ticks can cause illnesses.

In our house, we put wood lice bugs/spiders/bees/wasps etc outside. No pellets for slugs are put down here either.

I (or anyone, I would assume) wouldn’t punish a child for standing on a ladybird accidentally but this post is about purposely
killing.

I also don’t expect my child to eat murdered chickens at lunch time.

So, those are the rules! Well, my rules.

I don’t care what anyone says, I’m killing the flying ants and silverfish we get in our house

Well, I'm in my 40s and I still kill certain bugs on purpose because they're pests and they don't belong in my home. If they're harmless and have ended up inside by accident, I'll try to remove them without harming them, but no, I don't think a bug is the equivalent of larger animals. And for that matter, I've used mouse traps that kill the mouse, because the humane ones require them to be relocated and that's simply not practical.

So no, I probably wouldn't mention that to a parent unless it were part of a bigger picture of worrying behaviour. If you've asked him repeatedly not to do it and he continues, that would be different.

😂😂😂😂😂.

This isn't as hard as all the moral philosophers on this thread are claiming.

If this kid killed an animal needlessly, for shits and giggles, that's cruel. I think parents and teachers should make clear that cruelty is unacceptable. Killing a mosquito or eating a bacon sarnie isn't a positive act of cruelty in the same way.

This^
especially if a child was disciplined it’s always better to know why.

I'd want to know. My son is 4 and understands perfectly well that we don't kill creatures. If we see a bug or a spider in the garden, we'll have a look at it, talk about it, but he knows we don't hurt them. If he'd had a lesson in school on the topic, then purposely killed a creature, I'd want to know.

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

But I think many parents just want to know as much as possible about their child’s day at school, good or bad. And if this (as a one-off) warrants a chat, so do many, many other things. Then surely you have to have a lot of chats at the end of each day, talking through matters which had hopefully been resolved in school.

Obvs different if it’s part of a bigger picture.

What are the rules around living creatures? It's ok to kill a spider by putting it outside but not to stamp on it?
It's ok to kill ticks, fleas and headlice but not stand on woodlice?
Ok to put pellets down to make slugs explode?

Punish children for standing on a ladybird but then expect them to happily eat tortured and murdered chickens at lunch time... the rules really aren't clear here?

@Giraffesandbottoms are you serious? You kill spiders and insects for no reason whenever you see them? Why?! Have you heard of the biodiversity crisis?

Yes I would think it was ridiculous sorry. It’s really not a huge deal, a 5yo squashing a bug is hardly gonna kill all the bees off. I thought teachers had bigger problems than this

I wouldn't be impressed if a teacher pulled me aside to tell me this.

You can raise a child to respect all living creatures but them still have a thoughtless slip up aged 5/6. Teacher then corrects and reinforces this message.

We teach our DC that things shouldn't be harmed for no reason. Killing flies in the kitchen if the little buggers refuse to be shooed out of the window - yes, because they spread germs. Deliberately stamping on something that's not doing any harm for the "fun' of hurting something small that won't fight back? Definitely No, and I would prefer to be told, so I could discuss with DC appropriately.

Do teachers need to mention every act of unkindness or lack of empathy at the end of each day?

Grim

I’d want to be told so I could reiterate the rules round living creatures. My DD is shown & taught by me that we don’t kill anything at all. If she’s scared of a spider/bug then I will put it outside.

I also tell kids off at the park for chasing/chucking stuff at the ducks!

And also obvs if teacher does decide to chat to parent, I would hope it would happen discreetly. Nothing worse than teachers who publicly ask to chat with parent in front of others at pick up time, when it’s evident that the reason for chat isn’t a good one.

Is it wrong? If I see a spider I would definitely stamp on it deliberately. And if I see a slug I would get DH to kill it! We kill ants and bugs walking along all day long I see on purpose it’s a bit different but I would have 0 qualms getting rid of a few of them eg wasps and I can’t see how it’s a huge issue.