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Hoi Polloi wrote:I don't want to read the article. Does it imply if the boys were trained in how to humanely kill chickens (good ol' country boys) or if they were punks who thought it would be a great thrill?

The kid who killed the chicken got it from his family home. There is no implication in the article that the killing was inhumane by the standards of poultry management.

Of course, there are going to be people who think any killing of an animal is inhumane.

- Jim

I don't see where anyone was forced to watch anything. The boys beheaded a chicken outside the school. Anyone who did not want to look did not have to.

Why is this is so controversial? If it had been an empty-holster protest or a student wearing an NRA T-shirt, this forum would be unanimous.

P.S.: I did not post this topic just because it is ludicrous. I find it to be an example of the enforced conformity to bureaucratic rules and political correctness that has made schools such a mess. The kid did not break a law or harm anyone. At worst this issue should have been dealt with like any case of kids cutting class or goofing off. It should not be a news item or require a school board meeting to discuss it.

- Jim

What general principle is at work here? Is it that students should ask permission and obey rules, or that no one should ever feel offended, or both?

- Jim

Maybe everyone who eats should try raising food and performing each step of the process at least once. It's not supposed to be some kind of dirty secret. They also would appreciate how hard people work in agriculture, for rather little pay.

- Jim

Maybe she's a vegan, but I would think a vegan would starve to death in West Virginia.

BTW, this is an absurd example of this kind of issue, but not an isolated one. The Santa Fe, Texas, high school built an agricultural facility in an area where many residents still have livestock and poultry. Some of the neighbors where complaining about possible <gasp> odors and diseases.

- Jim

This is the actual headline on a TV station web site:

High School Students Accused Of Killing Chicken For Cookout

Two ... High School students are accused of killing a chicken outside of a vocational classroom with the intentions of eating it at a cookout, the superintendent said....

Two male students, a senior and a junior, were involved, [the superintendent] said. She said they were disciplined immediately. She said the extent of the students' punishment won't be known until the school board finished its investigation.

"I thought it was appalling. I was very angry. When I first heard it, I was sickened by it," she said. "I know some people get their chicken in that manner, but not as a spectacle."

http://www.wtov9.com/news/27966361/detail.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is in West Virginia, not some PETA looney bin. Where do think all that cooked chicken comes from?

Granted, part of the problem is that the students asked permission for holding a cookout. When the principal said No, they got permission from another staff member.

Also they used a knife that probably violated some weapon policy, but that does not seem to be the main issue.

- Jim