to be upset by spider-killing teacher?!

[Glossymare]

Ds, age 8, tells me on our way home from school ‘my teachers a bit cruel. Today there was a spider on someone’s desk so she squashed it with her ruler. It was bleeding.’ I told him ‘that was cruel. She should have put it outside safely. How sad’.
Now, I don’t like spiders but I always get my husband or eldest son to take them outside because I’m too fucking scared too
But, this has really made me sad. What a shit example to set to children. AIBU?! I am premenstrual, so possibly a bit over emotional!

Er.....It was a mosquito maybe? Surely you'd kill that??

I squish them. I just want them gone and away. It's the only reason I still have an Argos book.

Primary school teacher here.

YNBU

I used to be so scared of spiders that I couldn't even look at a picture of one, but didn't want to pass that fear on and want to teach children to care for all creatures.
Putting on a calm voice and talking about how amazing the spiders are that occasionally appear in my classroom has helped me so much that I'm now chief spider catcher at home.

I've taught from Foundation, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. In all these year groups, whenever there's been a spider that's too big for me to deal with myself there's always been a brave child who's been happy to gently take it outside for me.

Is this a bad time to mention the time I accidentally ran over a rabbit while driving a minibus full of students? It was that or swerve into the hedge and hurt the kids.
Cue a huge amount of screaming and me frantically trying to claim I missed it and saw it hopping away...

Sometimes teachers do bad things I’m tbe heat of the moment, I’m sure your D.C won’t be too scarred for life as a result

I didn't realise spiders die if you put them outside. I don't mind the small ones staying but I can't share my house with the big buggers! If I did the cat would torment them to death. What should I do (or rather what should DH do) with them?

Yep gives me the rage when people kill spiders 😠in my house I either leave them or put them somewhere safe, am trying to bring up my kids not to be scared of them.I actually quite like them .

I killed one the other day in class. Where I live, many spiders are able to kill you, so I'm not having a redback crawling across my whiteboard thank you very much. Bye...splat.

I can't believe people have called the teacher a bitch! As others have pointed out, the school probably serves dead animals to the children at lunchtime, anyway.

I don't think that people killing animals for meat amounts to the same as gratuitous killing. If the spider loses no risk (and in most circumstances they don't) ending its life because you dislike it is just horrible.

I don't think the animal is going to care if you're killing it for food or because you simply don't like it. A spider being killed quickly is going to suffer much less than factory-farmed animals do over their lifetimes. Like I said, I'm not a vegan or even a vegetarian, but that's due to lack of willpower on my part.

I do hope your dear darling children's teachers adjust their breathing to suit you. Is there any not that can't be picked on here?

Spiders are good insects so I understand. They eat flies which are dirty. Wasps are dirty too.

A spider is harmless but that doesn't stop me being afraid of them. Irrational I know.

Spiders are good insects so I understand. They eat flies which are dirty.

They're useful to have around, but they aren't insects: insects have 6 legs and spiders have 8 legs. They're arachnids.

Should have modelled how to overcome an irrational phobia and to respect living things by escorting it out the window/door via way of cup and paper.
In my class the children now offer to place arachnid companions outside for me and pat each other on the back for being brave if they were previously too scared.
I view it as a learning experience.

That teacher is a spider-killing cunt.

Teachers can't "go and find someone else". They can't leave the class unattended.

And when you put spiders outside they might die anyway. They often come in for the warmth and being outside may kill them.

If she was scared of spiders she may not have been able to put a glass over it etc. And squishing is probably an acceptable alternative to her showing her fear and passing a phobia into the children.

People kill spiders all the time. Big whoop.

Spider + glass + bit of card = happy spider

Spiders can “bleed”, I accidentally crushed a large one that had got in my hoodie and it oozed black blood (or something) everywhere.

I don’t kill spiders myself, don’t usually bother putting them outside, I just occasionally get rid of their webs - they keep on top of the flies, after all. I would happily murder every wasp on the planet though, so would feel a bit hypocritical getting upset over someone quickly killing a spider.

I was brought up to see spiders as lucky. If you didn't want them on your house, you escorted them from the building in the traditional plastic cup.

I'm in Australia now and still don't kill the venomous buggers.

I would be very cross. I don't see why they can't simply be moved gently. Not a good example.
I would be furious if one my children killed a spider on purpose. And yes I am vegan 

Meh. Storm, meet teacup.

It was just a spider. It's not what I'd do but I think in the interest of not turning kids into snowflakes it's best just to shrug it off and say worse things happen at sea.

Give that poor teacher a break! There was probably screaming kids and chaos, then she's the subject of criticism on here! Lose/lose.

I would happily murder every wasp on the planet though, so would feel a bit hypocritical getting upset over someone quickly killing a spider

Same here. Never kill spiders or other insects, with wasps being the exception. I've tried and tried with the little shits, but they keep pushing me too far. Had to get the pest control out because they kept building nests outside my home office window and then coming in and stinging me. So all bets were off after that

In some countries, if you don't kill them they WILL GET YOU.

I'm a teacher. Last week one of my students spotted the biggest fucking spider I've ever seen crawling down the wall. Absolute pandemonium ensued, kids shrieking, climbing up on chairs.

I AM normally a cup and card kinda gal, but in this case to avoid a frankly mad situation escalating any further, possibly dangerously so (and not having another adult in the room to supervise whilst I traipsed Mr Spider out of the classroom, down a corridor, through 2 doors and safely back to nature) I squished it.

And the only windows in the room are above head height and you have to unwind them, so not an option.

Less than 60 seconds from first sighting. Hysterics over, everyone back in their seats, lesson continued.

Teachers have to make a thousand and one decisions every hour. This was my call in that moment.

And it was a fucking huge spider...