Found this in todays Orange County Register,letters section.Pretty damn sad if you ask me.I don't know which is worse the people teaching the program,the teacher for not putting a stop to it immediately or the school administrators for letting it happen.If it were my kids I would be furious!
Friday, March 7, 2003
As a substitute teacher (grades 6-12), I see the best and the worst of public education. I recently experienced something disturbing. My 8th-grade class participated in the "Circles of Compassion" program. The presenter pretended to be an extraterrestrial who wanted to understand our mores. The discussion started with killing other people but quickly shifted to killing animals. She said, "Why would we do that? To eat them? Why would we do that? Because they tasted good?"
Resuming her real persona, she asked how many of us had cats or dogs as pets, then, "Would we brand them with a hot iron? No? Then why was it OK to brand cattle? What about castration? What about cutting off the beaks of baby chicks with hot wires so they wouldn't peck each other?" She ended by soliciting brands of hygiene products used that morning. Only the brands mentioned by her and a companion made the "not tested on animals" list. As the children left, she was describing rabbits with their eyes taped open so shampoo could be poured into them.
When I shared my concerns about the class with the administration, I was told it had been described as a program about "respect and the circle of life." These concepts were mentioned only peripherally. The program was a one-sided indoctrination. It took me only five minutes on the Internet to discover that branding can be done with hot or freezing irons. There are specific techniques to minimize pain. Alternative identification methods also have problems; for example, rustlers simply cut out ear tags. However, none of these points was mentioned because the program was not intended to stimulate debate and informed opinions. It was designed to present emotionally charged images that would elicit emotional responses from 13-year-olds.
As a parent and teacher, I am disturbed by this proselytizing of our children under the guise of education. Parents, do you know what your children were taught today?
Marlys Stapelbroek
North Tustin