CHILDREN & ANIMALS
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1996:
The school board in Prairie City, Oregon, on
November 20 ordered the district middle school to halt a planned
three-week animal rights forum after just one week, because the
forum, intended as an exercise in developing critical thinking,
outraged local hunters, meat-eaters, ranchers, and timber workers,
who objected to anyone even raising the possibility that their
occupations and/or proclivities might be ethically questionable.
Vegetarian teacher Rick Bogle, whose policy on putting bugs
outside alive instead of killing them brought an earlier furor, had
invited guest speakers including Portland activist Nancy Perry, a
representative of the local humane society, an animal husbandry
expert from the Oregon State Extension Service, and a pro-hunting
representative of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
His discussion guide asked students to separate fact from opinion
in articles on animal-related topics, and to answer questions on a
scale ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” about
such statements as “I would rather shoot an elk than just watch it
in the wild,” “Whales are more important than mice,” and “A
well-balanced diet must include red meat.”