Should animal welfare, and animal cruelty awareness be taught in all schools?

1. 77

   BritInTexasposted 12 years ago

   Should animal welfare, and animal cruelty awareness be taught in all schools?
   
   Do you think children should be taught from a young age about the repercussions of animal neglect and abuse?  Would this be a good, proactive way in reducing cruelty incidents?

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2. 65

   Veroniquebeeposted 12 years ago

   Personally I think that unless people are made aware how to treat each other with respect and care, you can't really expect them to do that to animals. Teach them to treat other people with care, and then they will be ready to be taught how to treat animals.

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3. 95

   Helena Rickettsposted 12 years ago

   That is an excellent question!
   
   I think to a certain extent, yes.  I wouldn't appreciate a school showing graphic photos of animal cruelty to my children and don't think it is necessary to go that route with it.  I think if it is approached by teaching children to appreciate animals and the importance of taking care and being kind to any animals that they have or see would be great.
   
   Maybe that's why some elementary school class rooms have "class pets" like rabbits, fish and ferrets.  The children take turns feeding and caring for the animal.  I've always thought that was an excellent idea to teach them to respect theirs and other's pets.   
   
   Unfortunately with cultural differences, what is viewed as animal cruelty in the US is the norm in other countries.  We should probably look in our own backyard with commercial agriculture and how our farm animals are treated on factory farms before pointing our fingers at other parts of the world for education purposes.  The old saying, "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" definitely applies there.

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4. 0

   DoItForHerposted 12 years ago

   While I didn't have animals in the classroom, having to care for animals has made me the person I am today. How can one learn absolute honesty or true loyalty from a person?
   
   Very rarely, but those traits are abundant in animals.
   
   Learning how to properly treat animals is a hands-on experience; books alone won't cut it. Logistically, I don't see it happening on a large scale.
   
   If this was taught, I would not like to see teaching animal cruelty is bad; rather, I would prefer the focus to be the intimant value of properly caring for another living being.
   
   And not how to farm an animal for profit. This is not the same as caring for another living being without being motivated by greed.

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5. 61

   pruntcessposted 12 years ago

   I think that children should be exposed to animals and taught how to treat them kindly.  There are laws preventing animal cruelty and neglect, and these should be emphasized.  However, I do not think that this responsibility should belong to the school system.  Schools are for education.  Parents should be responsible for instilling morals and values in their children, including not being cruel to animals. 
   
   Perhaps the schools can use a lesson about animal cruelty awareness (using non-graphic materials) to teach children that it is okay to report animal cruelty they may see to the appropriate authorities.

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6. 0

   Sarra Garrettposted 12 years ago

   Definately!  Even though we will unfortunately always have animal cruelty education is always a plus.

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