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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

Where does she think her chicken comes from. She seems like one of those who want to eat the burger but not meet the cow.

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

In her defense, I think she was talking about the beheading of the chicken being done on purpose as a show in front of others that may not have wanted to see it slaughtered. Just a poor choice of words on her part. And, the boys were wrong in doing what they did IMO. I know there are many who will eat chicken or beef, and understand there is a slaughtering process, but don't want to see it happen.

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

Kidder said other students saw the incident. She went to the school immediately after she was notified.

"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."

Um...isn't that really how everyone gets their chicken?

seamusTX wrote: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

This wasn't a Biology Class project, it was a couple of boys wanting to gross out the rest of the students IMO. And while it is part of the process to get your meat, it doesn't mean everyone wants to see it or do it.

I have slaughtered all types of livestock and wild game and have no problems with it, but my wife and daughter have no interest in seeing it or doing it.

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

Best PETA type comment I ever saw was:
"I get my meat at the grocery store, where no animals were harmed."

seamusTX wrote: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

Yes, this was done without permission and they should obey the rules.

If I don't want to see something, you don't have the right to force me to watch or do it where I have no real choice but to observe it happening. The others in class were not given the option to step out and not witness it.

Do you think that just because I have the right practice Santeria, or burn a flag, anything else you find offensive on the street in front of your house, that you have to like it and be forced to watch it?

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

seamusTX wrote: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

Unless something has changed from when I lived in West (BG) Virginia in 1971-72, all of the participants are related. That may have called a board meeting to discuss ownership and parentage of the chicken?

seamusTX wrote: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

I think my initial interpretation was that there were more than just the teacher who saw the animal being slaughtered, or just post slaughter. However, after re-reading the article it appears that may have not been the case. So, if it was done where no one had to look at the slaughter being performed, then it is less of an issue and I don't see it as a big problem.

We all know how messy teenagers can be.

Maybe the adults are upset because they didn't clean up the mess.

SIA

I remember the first time I saw a chicken beheaded by my then crush. It was in the early 1970s and I was working on a farm in Colorado and she was the "farmer's daughter." It was the summer between 8th and 9th grade. It was Friday evening after we had bailed hay and it was time to slaughter some chickens. Grab the chickens by the neck, then either ring their neck or use a machete to chop their heads off. It was pretty ugly, but I learned where fried chicken came from.

The reason that it is a "freak show" now is that we are "protected" by the cruelties of life. It should be a required course in high school to have to raise and slaughter food for consumption. It makes you appreciate life. It also teaches you some responsibility for yourself. If worse comes to worse I can raise and slaughter chickens or goats or lambs, or cows.

We allow our children to watch TV with its extreme simulated violence, but we fear their reaction of seeing where their McChicken comes from.

I remember the noise, smell and sounds of the chicken's slaughter, but I also remember some very good fried chicken that Friday night.