Would you do this? Warning-mention made of animal being killed - Page 2

[VisionaryMom]

Yes, I'd do it, though more likely in the context of discussions about food than a colloquial saying. I grew up on a farm, so the kiddos are likely to see/hear reference to animal killing when we're visiting.

[limabean]

Originally Posted by choli

I think anyone willing to eat meat should also be willing to watch a slaughter.

I agree with this, but the question the little girl asked her father didn't have anything to do with meat eating or slaughtering, it was just a simple linguistic question about a colloquialism.

If my kid asked where meat comes from, I would go down the path of talking about slaughter, but if my kid asked about a linguistic expression, I would just explain what the phrase means. When people say, "He's running around like a chicken with its head cut off," they usually don't literally picture a just-slaughtered chicken in death throes, they just picture a hurried person. So my mind wouldn't even make that leap, from a question about an expression to a video of a dying chicken. I'd be more likely to go into a discussion about the idiosyncrasies of the English language.

[carfreemama]

Just to clarify, it's my goddaughter's father who did this with his own kid. I'm not questioning his "right" to show her the video, so I guess I'm not entirely sure what exactly it is I'm upset about; just the idea of it, I suppose. To me, it's just one more reason why this man and I do NOT do well as parenting buddies; which is sad, because his dd and mine have been close friends since day one. I don't have contact with the mom anymore; so unless we hang out with his daughter during his time with her, we don't see her. Judging from the responses here, lots of people wouldn't be upset/would do the same thing; so again, it's probably a values-incompatibility thing between us. There are just sooo many of those, some of them more irreconcilable than this one.

[Kirsten]

No, I wouldn't show my kid that video, and I would be PISSED beyond belief if anyone (including my dp) showed that to my 13 or 9 year olds, no less my 6 year old!

We are not vegetarian, but the video was not appropriate IMO because it is inferring that a chicken running around with its head cut off is funny. There is no reverence; I think that is the offensive part.

I agree with limabean that the kid was asking for info about an expression in the English language, and I would explain it in the "hurried" way.

I think it is fine for kids to learn that dinner didn't originate in a plastic-wrapped package at Safeway, but with reverence not laughter.

[pranamama]

it wouldn't really bother me, I have 1 vegie child and used to be vegetarian. I don't eat much meat but think that backyard chickens w/ heads cut off probably had a better life than factory farmed chickens, and it is very strange/interesting how they run around afterwards.

[mirlee]

Anyone who has lived on a farm with live animals that they slaughter, particularly chickens, has seen this. I don't find any offense at showing the video. If I had shown it to my child, it would have been accompanied with the explanation of why the chicken does that and where the expression comes from.

Of course, we watched Food, Inc. as a family and talk about where our food comes from all the time.

[carfreemama]

We talk about where our food comes from all the time, too. We've visited farms and dd has fed the chickens. She knows they will be killed for food. She's a little sad about it, but she likes chicken and seems to be handling it okay. For a while, she didn't want to eat meat for reasons like this and I respected that. Then she said she missed chicken and wanted to eat it again and I reminded her about why she stopped eating it, just to be sure she understood. I'm open to however she wants to approach food and whether she wants to eat meat or not. It really is the way it was done that bothers me. I must say, I find nothing interesting or fascinating about how or why the chicken keeps running after its head is cut off. I just don't get that. It's a LIFE and yes, we're taking it; but we need to keep the focus on that and keep that part of it solemn. I just couldn't stand by while kids laughed at that. I don't think I'd correct them, I'm sure it's completely normal; but I wouldn't encourage it and I wouldn't show it unless I had to. If I could, I would try to engage the children about why, exactly, they were laughing and try discuss it from there. No need to make anyone feel guilty, but just not funny IMO.

[amma_mama]

Originally Posted by limabean

I agree with this, but the question the little girl asked her father didn't have anything to do with meat eating or slaughtering, it was just a simple linguistic question about a colloquialism.

If my kid asked where meat comes from, I would go down the path of talking about slaughter, but if my kid asked about a linguistic expression, I would just explain what the phrase means. When people say, "He's running around like a chicken with its head cut off," they usually don't literally picture a just-slaughtered chicken in death throes, they just picture a hurried person. So my mind wouldn't even make that leap, from a question about an expression to a video of a dying chicken. I'd be more likely to go into a discussion about the idiosyncrasies of the English language.

I agree.

However, if there was a question related to where meat comes from, I guess it depends on the child, but I would not show my 5.5yo DD a video of a slaughter (or the after effects). I would do my best to explain with words. I do agree that children should be taught where meat comes from, but in a way that is age-appropriate and respectful, which does not include laughter. I do understand that young children may laugh at such things - DD did when she saw a skinned lamb hanging from a hook - but I try to explain to her that the animal suffered so that people can eat it. We are not vegetarian (though I am moving in that direction) and she needs to learn to have proper respect for how the food got on her plate. But, again, this can be done without a video and certainly without a video that includes laughter.

[Chicky2]

Originally Posted by Kirsten

We are not vegetarian, but the video was not appropriate IMO because it is inferring that a chicken running around with its head cut off is funny. There is no reverence; I think that is the offensive part.



I think it is fine for kids to learn that dinner didn't originate in a plastic-wrapped package at Safeway, but with reverence not laughter.

This.

We live on a small farm. We slaughter chickens and rabbits and goats and pigs. We do NOT laugh about it. And there is a nicer way to do it anyway, rather than letting the chicken flop. We use a killing cone, and it isn't quite as unpleasant to watch (the flopping does still bother me, partly because it bruises my meat!).

[laila2]

Well I would not like it based on experience

[QUOTE=carfreemama;15020992]Interesting feedback! I've been trying to think of some other expressions that are probably easy to find on Youtube. P***ing in the wind" comes to mind. Would I put it past this person to show his daughter a video of that? Um, no. QUOTE] lol

When I was ~7 at a family that had chickens in the back yard, they had us over for dinner, my parents knowing it would be a chicken slaughter. This family was a bit loopy, and when they slaughtered the chickens, the daughter started laughing hysterically to see them running around. I think I was more upset at their daughters laughter, then the grotesque chicken. I do not recall laughing and thought it was gross.


But it makes for a good story to tell, and it would not be such a good story coming from a you tube video.

[Anastasiya]

Originally Posted by Kirsten

We are not vegetarian, but the video was not appropriate IMO because it is inferring that a chicken running around with its head cut off is funny. There is no reverence; I think that is the offensive part.

This exactly.

I am a meat eater, but I do not glorify the deaths of animals. I don't laugh watching even bugs struggle for life. (Though I still kill them.)

For me, if the movie had been a silent or more generic one, it might have been fine. But since it was filled with laughing children thus making light of the chicken's demise, then no. Not appropriate for my kids.

[lilyka]

I would show something like that to my child.

[becoming]

I probably would. We are very open with our kids about whatever they want to know, so if my 8-year-old DS asked to see that, I would probably find him the least disturbing video possible. Otherwise, he would probably sneak around & look it up on his own while he was on the computer, and find God knows what else.

[carfreemama]

I agree, becoming. If my child ASKED to see that video, I would probably do exactly as you describe. However, it's this father's response to his dd's question about what the phrase meant that upset me so much. It was very much "dad, what does the phrase chicken with its head cut off" mean? Dad says "well, do you want to see a video? I can show you." Looks up video on Youtube. No prescreening, kid right there with him. Finds video of kids on a farm, laughing as a chicken runs around with its head cut off. "There, daughter, that's what it means." And then tells me that urban kids don't understand the reality of eating meat and I'm a hypocrite and sheltering dd too much.

Aside from just thinking this is awful, it's a major reinforcement that I do not want to leave this person with my dd, without me or dh present. It's not that I think it's abuse or anything, just so very far from a judgement call I would make and I don't trust him to do this or something similar if my dd is around; especially since he does think I shelter her too much.

[Kailey's mom]

Originally Posted by becoming

I probably would. We are very open with our kids about whatever they want to know, so if my 8-year-old DS asked to see that, I would probably find him the least disturbing video possible. Otherwise, he would probably sneak around & look it up on his own while he was on the computer, and find God knows what else.

Same here, I mean it IS the truth. I'm not going to try to hide the reality from my kid.

[littlemizflava]

umm i would show my kids that. my dd knows about what happens but she has not seen a video. in our world education is not watered down. my dd has seen a circ at 4.5 it came up because my bestfriends ds is circ and my ds is not. so i showed her. she has seen other thing "adult" but i know she can understand it and because we talk about it before, after and many many times in the future.