To think kids shouldn't cut up spiders?

[sparklewater]

That, really. A five year old I know was found cutting up a live spider.

AIBU to be absolutely horrified or am I totally over-reacting?

fluffy Um, you might want to take a chill pill and remember that's a real child you're talking about. Fuck's sake.

Sublime to the ridiculous here, isn't it.

It’s amazing how many adults I know that will happily squash spiders etc so it’s hardly surprising some children have taken it a step further . My house is a no kill zone and my children are taught to respect all creatures regardless of wether they are frightened of them .

Is it really that different to children stamping on ants ( which I’ve seen so many times ) .. horrible as it is . And I would intervene and stop it !

Theres a difference between a small child "wanting to see what would happen if it had fewer legs" and "enjoying that it is in pain".

Children look to adults to tell them what behaviour is acceptable or not acceptable, if she continues to do this kind of thing with other animals and in secret (ie knows its wrong) then thats the time to maybe start worrying but I'm not seeing anything like "definite serial killer" just yet.

Is it really that different to children stamping on ants ( which I’ve seen so many times )

No, it's not different at all. I would not tolerate my DS stamping on ants (not that he would), or deliberately setting out to kill creatures of any sort for absolutely no reason other than his own enjoyment.

I think it would be wrong to read too much into it to be honest. All this sociopath stuff is going too far. She's five, she doesn't appear to know it's wrong. Let it go and keep an eye out..

@ArcheryAnnie that’s my point , people tolerate this and think cutting up a spider is different . It’s not . I tolerate no killing or hurting it any animals . I think there is a fine line between bugs / small animals / humans ... obviously not everyone who kills bugs will move into killing other things but to me all living things should be shown the same respect . Who am I to distinguish their lives ?

obviously not everyone who kills bugs will move into killing other things but to me all living things should be shown the same respect . Who am I to distinguish their lives

So you never ever kill bugs of any kind? you never swat a fly, or kill an ant? You never get rid of greenfly from your garden? If your attic had a giant wasps nest you would leave it be?
Do you have pets that you deflea and deworm? Do you take antibiotics? Do you let headlice live free on your children's heads?

I do not kill anything unless I absolutely have to . I keep my cats flea treatment up to date so there are no fleas to kill . I use a nutty gritty comb to avoid getting headline .. I literally never kill anything .. I find it exceptionally hard to hurt anything . I’m not religious , I just feel that it’s not my right to kill anything . Why is it so hard to believe ??🤷‍♀️

This is why we don’t take the kids to see one of their cousins any more. He’s 5, so far he has hurt their cat by throwing it in a full hot bath, then when the cat got out he threw it in again. Then he killed their lizard by stamping on its head. My brother thinks it’s funny, and swears blind “Little Johnny (not real name) is so good I’m so lucky”. If I ever talk to him and say “Oh DD has been playing up lately” (she’s 4 and 95% of the time is a total angel) he always says “oh I NEVER have that with Johnny, he’s always well behaved” 🙄

Last time we visited Johnny kept bashing DD on the face violently with balloons, she’d just be sitting having a snack and he’d come up and do it laughing his head off. Sounds a bit PFB but it was really harsh. DD of course cried and DB and SIL were all “aw she’s soooo sensitive”. NO! Your son is being a little turd hurting her and she’s understandably upset. And you’re not disciplining him. So we just don’t go anymore. They think we are over reacting.

Hurting people and killing animals is very worrying behaviour even at 5. At the moment I’m reading We Need To Talk About Kevin, and my brother is basically the Franklin character! As I suspect many parents of these children are

Hmmm. It happens. I pity any small insect that has the misfortune to wander into a Reception outside area. At best they get prodded and poked.

If anyone kills anything then they get a serious dressing down.

And FWIW always release spiders (no I don’t leave them in the house so they can bite the baby and rub their Willy on my face)

Do you let headlice live free on your children's heads?

There was an incredible thread a few years back where MNers were saying the nicest thing to do is comb the head lice out and release into the garden it’s funny though, their kids always seemed to get lice 🤔

It is disgusting and barbaric. I loathe spiders and if I have to kill one I'll kill it straight away no suffering involved but that really is a vile thing to do and shows no empathy towards other beings.

It is disgusting and barbaric. I loathe spiders and if I have to kill one I'll kill it straight away no suffering involved but that really is a vile thing to do and shows no empathy towards other beings

You show no empathy to spiders either if you kill one (you never have to, you choose to).
You cannot say it is vile to kill a spider in the same sentence as you say you kill spiders. You're ridiculous.

So you never ever kill bugs of any kind? you never swat a fly, or kill an ant?

minttea If there's an ants nest in my kitchen, ruining all my food, then I will research the most humane way to get rid of it, including humanely killing them. If there's an ants nest outside, having no impact on my life at all, then I will leave it alone.

I won't find the nastiest way to kill the ants in my kitchen. I won't needlessly stamp on the ants outside. I think there's something wrong with people who kill without any consideration or reason for it.

So I hope you are all vegetarians. Or do you EAT baby lambs, mother cows etc? Sink your teeth into them and enjoy their taste?

Honestly, Im a vegetarian but would never normally make a post like this. I don't think you are all psychopaths but nor is this child and your double standards make no sense.

If this little child is being cruel, then he probably needs help to understand why. It may or may not be worrying- either way condemning such a 5 year old is incredibly unhelpful.

I just feel that it’s not my right to kill anything . Why is it so hard to believe ??

So you're a vegan, imjessie?

So I hope you are all vegetarians.

Seriously? You don't think even some meat-eaters draw the line at gratuitous animal-torture?

(A lot of meat-eating depends on gratuitous animal torture, I know, because it's industrialised, but it needn't. Plenty of people seek out meat from animals which have been humanely treated.)

Yes, seriously, I think you're missing the point. It's not that you should be vegetarian if you think "gratuitous animal torture" is bad. It's that if you are going to bleat on about how you never kill anything ever, and how awful it is to kill any life form at all, and how disgraceful it is to cause pain, then you better not be chowing down on mass produced meat, because you do all that every day.

I agree mint. All this horror at squashing an ant, bet my bottom dollar some animal is being digested in people - but somehow that’s not cruel?

I’m assuming people here don’t drink milk, given what they do to cows to get milk from them.

minttea there isn't a single person on this forum who doesn't cause death and destruction to other living species. Even all the endless car-driving and flights to Disneyworld are directly contributing to climate change, which kills living beings, as the people in Puerto Rico could tell you now.

Maybe you are right. Maybe there's no difference between being a person who cuts limbs off living creatures just because they can, and being a person who tries to live their life reasonably ethically, but is still damaging other people and other living things. Maybe if people reacted to someone, say, eating mass-produced meat, or getting on a long-haul flight, or taking the car to the shops 2 mins walking distance away, the way they would do if they saw someone chopping the limbs of an animal in public, the world would change for the better, quicker.

I knew someone would trot out the vegetarian line

Vegan of many decades here. HTH.

minttea there isn't a single person on this forum who doesn't cause death and destruction to other living species

but there are people claiming not to , and that is my point exactly.