class trip carnage

[veganloraine]

my ds had a "it's a bug's life" class trip yesterday to the Children's Discovery Centre in St. Catharines. it was horrible! the first thing they learned about was how to identify an insect (okay, that part was good). the children were then taught which insects are pests (flies, fleas, mosquitos, cockroaches and moths - being "pests" because they carry disease, bite us, eat our food or make holes in our clothes ) and which insects are our friends (butterflies, honey bees, preying mantis and dragon flies - being "friends" because they pollinate flowers, make honey for US, or eat mosquitos).

the children were then taken outside to the "beneficial/earth garden" to release ladybugs and crickets. the ladybugs were kept in film containers smelling of toxic chemicals (from the film) and a few were dead when it was time to release them. the instructor seemed somewhat surprised by this as she thought she had already successfully discarded all the dead ones . my sweet little man didn't get a ladybug (dead or alive) and so he was handed a cricket - a dead cricket. she put her hand back into the bag (heavily coated with condensation) and pulled out 10 dead crickets. "hmmm....how could that have happened? oh, well..." *me screaming inside*.

once the living ladybugs were released into the garden the 27 kindergarten kids were sent running into the tall mass of weeds and wildflowers to trample them and any other "friend" to death. i could not believe this was happening - i just stood there dazed and confused. one child brought the instructor a half-smooched caterpillar to which she replied "cool". he dropped it at her feet and went off in search of more.

wow. i knew we should have skipped this one!!! but really, was any of that destruction and loss of life really necessary to teach the children to hate flies? because that's all they came away with.

[irthmum]

That is so sad! How unfortunate that your child had such a bad experience. I felt so fortunate after reading your post and thought I would share a very different experience. My five year old son had a field trip to the Blue Heron nature reserve a couple of months ago. The kids were supposed to learn to identify bugs in their natural habitat and learn some interesting facts about them. I was sooo impressed with how well this trip went! I volunteered to be a parent helper (so as to do damage control should the trip be similar to the one you describe!) and got the first hand look at the lesson. Imagine my pleasant surprise when two naturalists showed the kids how to find bugs, observe them without disturbing them, then discuss how they fit into the various "nature cycles" and how that benefited us humans, other animals, and nature as a whole. The trip wrapped up with a nature walk in which everyone was encouraged to "see with all of their senses" and then discuss the feel, sound, touch , taste, and smell of nature. How refreshing! We all came away feeling calm and connected to our surroundings. I only wish that more teachers were as sensitive and understanding as my son's. We are so lucky! I really hope that you have a more positive experience next time. It would probably be worth discussing it with your child's teacher and/or principal. Good luck and blessings!

[veganloraine]

i knew a positive experience at an outdoor centre was possible!! i'm so glad you were able to experience it first-hand. i meant to write the outdoor centre we visited to voice my complaint, but tragically i'm a stressed-out procrastinator and so it never happened. shame on me.