Scolding Bug Killing Child

[Suzy8920]

So I was at the park with my youngest and we were walking along the path when we came across a snail. My daughter, who'll be 4 in a few weeks, saw it and deliberately stomped on the snail.

I found myself scolding the child for squashing it but then I started thinking that I deliberately squash bugs myself quite often - usually spiders and moths in my home though, not outside.

I think I reprimanded her more so for how she brutally stomped on it outside but now I'm not sure if I'm being a hypocrite sending mixed signals cause I've squished a lot of spiders to death in front of her.

Was I unreasonable or would you have a similar reaction to your child deliberately squishing a bug like this?

*minibeast not mini East

We do have a no handling rule and I do have to control her tiny pointy fingers

You should never squash snails and slugs.

Far better to place a ring of salt around them but allowing them about an inch of room before they touch it. This way the fitter, more intelligent gastropods will take a run up and, if they are fit enough, clear the salt without dying. This way it will encourage natural selection and you'll be able to breed a race of super slugs/snails which you'll be able to use to achieve World domination.

The only things I ever kill are clothes moths because they’ve destroyed all my wool clothes. Everything has a part to play in our ecology. There’s no excuse for squashing insects randomly and I say this as someone who loathes creepy-crawlies.

I too, honestly thought this was going to be about a bug killing a child and that 'Scolding Bug' was yet something else to be worried about!

If you don't want your daughter to stomp on snails then I would probably teach her that catching and releasing any insect or critter is the way to go.

The only think I'll kill inside my home are fleas. The rest are either removed kindly or left to make themselves at home

*A hyphen would have made all the difference.£

Agreed, 😅

If a wasp flies into my house and refuses to leave by the window that I've opened for it then it is going to get killed by either spray or zap bat.

Doing this in front of my children did not turn them into violent thugs.

Bugs that are outside should be left alone.
Bugs inside my house are either evicted or killed.

@Ranunculi

Most serial killers start by murdering small animals. You’ve set an example of killing other living creatures, why are you surprised that your child has followed your example?

This a thousand times over.

I think you’re bu for bollocking her when you frequently do it in front of her. You’re not bu by bollocking her for killing it by stomping on it. It wasn’t harming her. Stop killing spiders!

Why would anyone kill anything that's not a risk to them? Such a toxic thing to do.

You should have taken the Bing approach - bury it in the back garden and then paint pictures of snails to hang above it's grave, fluttering merrily in the wind...

She's 4, she has no moral compass yet. Just tell her it's unkind, she's not to do it again and model the behaviour you want to see in her, ie stop killing things when she can see you.

I wouldn't like my child to kill a snail, certainly not stamp on it. However she is only four and I doubt she'll do it again. Snails are sweet.

@Ranunculi

Most serial killers start by murdering small animals. You’ve set an example of killing other living creatures, why are you surprised that your child has followed your example?

I think this refers to the killing of rodents, rabbits, cats etc. Mammals, birds, larger stuff. Not so much molluscs and arachnids. If every lad who ever pulled the legs off a daddy longlegs grew into a serial killer it's a miracle any of us have survived this long without being hacked down.

@Pickles89

Why would anyone kill anything that's not a risk to them? Such a toxic thing to do.

Completely agree - there is actually no need to kill or be scared of any insects/arachnids in your house and humane ways of deterring things that are actually pests like flies and moths. If I go out in the garden at night and accidentally tread on a snail I feel awful!

Good that you told your DD off and make sure you don’t kill anything again, in front of her or not. Really, what is a spider going to do to you?!

I think some insects are fair game, anything bitey or that eats clothes gets squished/sprayed, and flies are a pain, (although I don't do greenbottles, they're pretty and harmless.) Anything else either gets rescued or left alone. Although I detest slugs I don't even kill them, they're hedgehog snacks and I love hedgehogs. (Does anyone else feel wretched when they accidentally step on a snail or is it just me?)

@Ranunculi

Most serial killers start by murdering small animals. You’ve set an example of killing other living creatures, why are you surprised that your child has followed your example?

Yes, her child is definitely going to become a serial killer because she deliberately stepped on a snail

Another vote for the missing hyphen here...

OP, how do you justify killing spiders & moths? Just out of interest.

Am I the only person here who gets mosquitos in the house? Do you put those under a glass and shoo them out of the front door as well? I just squash them

Definitely BU for telling her off if you do it yourself, but I couldn't believe a 4 years old deliberately stomping on snail. That is cruel, even though I really hate them.
I don't understand killing spiders either, quite shocked, tbh.

Misfit - yes it's 100% okay to kill clothes moths. I kill clothes moths but no other kind of moth

Flies get killed too.

Anything else is left alone (or sometimes rescued and freed in the garden)

@BillywilliamV

Just stop killing things, no excuse for killing anything. Mankind is wiping out our fellow creatures at a terrifying rate, without you joining in, stop it!!

Nope. I’ll kill mosquitos, flies and wasps in the house without hesitation. I’ll make an effort to save a bee as they’re becoming endangered, despite dc2 being moderately allergic to them. I’m currently dealing with a rat infestation that’s affecting my whole street. Common sense needs to be used, you can’t put a blanket ban on killing things that can harm you. I find it interesting that you think there’s no excuse for killing anything. Does that include head lice, tape worms, the bee in your daughters bedroom who stung her in the eyeball and put her in hospital with anaphylactic shock?

Btw, I initially read your thread title as some sort of weird and exotic new illness - a scolding bug, that sadly killed a child. I was imagining that this virus caused the skin to redden as if scalded.

It could be time for bed....

I tell my children we only kill animals that may do us harm. So we kill spiders because they may be poisonous (thank God we live in a country where that's true, cos I'm way too scared to not kill them) and we kill mosquitos (obvious reasons) and moths because they lay eggs in our food. We don't kill anything for no reason. We're vegetarians too.

@LimitIsUp

Btw, I initially read your thread title as some sort of weird and exotic new illness - a scolding bug, that sadly killed a child. I was imagining that this virus caused the skin to redden as if scalded.

It could be time for bed....

Me too!