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

Very interesting point. I wouldn't kill a bee but there again unless in the case of severe life threatening disability, or such like, I wouldn't kill an unborn child either.

I think most kids have enjoyed squishing something once or twice. If it was a one off no, you've told him it was unkind, leave it at that. If he was constantly seeking out things to squish, or doing other hurtful things too, then yes tell the parents.

You sound like a great teacher OP. I found when my kids were young that parents that allowed this sort of thing generally raised bullies, kids who think the world owes them a living that sort of thing. Just what I've observed. I don't think much of adults who kill something for no reason either.

Deliberate cruelty is worth mentioning to parents but I would hope that school staff focus on cruelty toward peers. I always found that taunting, stealing possessions, putting dirt down trousers etc was seen by staff as normal childhood behaviour. I was never informed of this by staff, just my child and then it was confirmed it had happened but 'he seemed to enjoy it'.

It's a little rich that the feelings of bugs are put above the feelings of ASD kids.

I would think the teacher was being a bit over dramatic.

I’d never have hurt an animal, nor allowed the kids to, but I’ve used fly spray, flea spray, etc and battered indoor spiders for decades.🤷‍♀️

@L4815162342 are you TA/Learning Support and you and class teacher have differing views on the incident?

You will exterminate them. Exterminate! Exterminate!

The where do you draw the line question always makes me think about abortion I am pro abortion but o do find it odd that some of my friends tell me off if I eradicate a bee but think it is ok to abort a foetus.

The school’s behaviour policy was that I could issue a detention for failing to follow a teacher’s instructions. I had told them not to do something, and warned them that if they did do it they would receive a detention. So if they ignored me I was within my rights to give them a detention, yes.

You would think mindless cruelty towards living creatures (honestly, who walks along purposefully stomping on bees?) would be an automatic sanction.

I would not welcome being pulled aside for this one and would be internally rolling my eyes at you. Definitely pull the child up on it at the time, but what purpose will it serve bringing it to the parents attention? Not one for busy parents.

My 3.5 yo knows not to kill any animals. He did it once and we told him why not (stood on spider or ants).
I would want to know this from the teacher so I could continue to reinforce at home

What you're trying to do is teach a young child empathy for the bug, by 6 lots of kids will have some empathy but some won't have much at all. I don't think punishing a child is the way to teach them empathy though.

It's possible that this child doesn't have much empathy for bugs because his mum is terrified of them and so his dad kills them. Either that or he may just not be a very naturally empathetic sort due to genetics - either way his parents probably aren't going to take much notice of what he did.

I'd stick to the good old 'imagine what it would be like for you if a giant foot came out the sky and stood on you'.

Was that in line with the school's behaviour policy, or just something you made up?

I was talking with another parent about this exact topic this morning, coincidentally. Personally I wouldn't expect a teacher to mention this unless it was part of a worrying set of behaviour patterns or had become a trend. We had carpet moths bombed out of our house quite recently and we are not psychopaths.

Often at school they can choose. Behaviour points only for the little psychopaths that choose milk instead of water. And a note home to mum.

But the parents going on about cruelty I assume are all vegan.

I would be happy to be told as a parent, either face to face or through a note on whatever you use to record student behaviour. It would enable me to have a chat with my child and reiterate to them that it’s not acceptable to kill living creatures for fun or curiosity.

I once told a Year 8 student I would give him a detention if I saw him purposefully standing on another bee. I also told a class of students fretting over a spider that I was coming across the room right now to remove it and if any of them hurt the spicer then they would receive a detention.

The other bees and the spider remained unharmed.

Children are not responsible for their food choices though. They have no option but to eat/drink what the adults caring for them give them. They are not able to pop into the supermarket and buy a dairy free alternative.

seriously? I’d think how ridiculous. 😂

I’d think ridiculous, and quite frankly as a grown arse adult I kill bugs , ants, spiders, wasps etc.

In our family We shoot pheasant for sport. Everyone in my family can shoot. It’s not for everyone, so for a tiny bug I would think the teacher overreacted.

I would definitely want to know- I'd be mortified if my child did this and would treat it seriously.

Reminds me of the time a Reception child was sent to me in disgrace for throwing a frog at a wall (I was a Year 6 teacher, but I was the one who would rescue lost frogs and deliver them to the school pond every February, so I suppose his teacher thought I was the most qualified person to deal with the situation!). I made him make a "Save the Frogs" poster.

Surely that's something you can deal with in school without needing to involve parents? I let all the kids that come around my house/garden know that if they squash any living creatures they'll have to go home and not come back, after my stepdaughter thought it was OK to kill a large house spider because one of her friends was scared of it. We'd been cohabiting very happily with Harriet for quite some time and I was genuinely upset they'd killed her. I was perfectly able to manage the situation myself without needing to go off and inform anyone's parents.

It we arnt talking about that. It would be amazing if they did though ! We are talking about purposely stamping on bugs and I believe the parent should know not that most of them would probably be bothered sadly

If the bug was inside and not out in nature, then I would probably assume that he sees that as being acceptable if he is mimicking his parents. Either way, though I personally think it’s not a huge deal due to age, I still would definitely mention it to mom/dad. I wouldn’t sound like you are a moment away from suspending his behind lol but I might say something like…

”Hi (Ms./Mr. Whomever) I just want to let you in on some things we’re learning about such as taking care of the environment and being respectful of nature. Sadly during the lesson he then went on to squish a bug… ☺️ we don’t want to have that type of practice and especially during class. A lot of times kids mimick things they see at home and not realize why and what exactly they see. If you don’t mind trying to help demonstrate the value of nature life while outside during playtime, that would be great for his learning and development!”