Should I force my 13ds to do dissection? He cries for the creatures.

[nmoira]

Absolutely not, and there are alternatives. Please respect his wishes. :001_smile:

[Slartibartfast]

No I would not.

 

I never cared much about dissection but if my mom was making me say...hug a clown or pet a monkey I probably would have melted down.

 

 

 

 

 

If someone tried to make me hold a monkey NOW I would probably melt down.

[GnomeyNewt]

Yeah, uh, I'm not getting the 'irrational' connection either. I'm 37 and I wouldn't want to dissect something- and while I'm not a vegetarian, I would not personally be able to kill the food I eat; nor would I want to watch it happen.

 

If a child- no, a PERSON of ANY age- doesn't want to dissect, kill or otherwise personally harm another living creature, they shouldn't have to. Period.

 

:iagree:

[ktgrok]

I think he needs to take a field trip to a family farm. His dinner was once "cute" too. 13 is way too old to be so irrationally sentimental. Just my honest opinion.

 

Just because you don't agree with the sentiment doesn't make it irrational. One could say it is very rational to be upset that something lost it's life for no real purpose. Even if he goes into a medical field the chances are he will not really remember any of the details of these dissections, making them pretty pointless. There is nothing to be gained by dissection at this age that can't be gained through virtual dissection.

 

I think it is wonderful that the harsh world hasn't beaten out of him all reverence for life.

 

Katie (who HAS been to the farm where we get our meat, and still wouldn't do dissection)

[Jenny in Florida]

I think he needs to take a field trip to a family farm. His dinner was once "cute" too. 13 is way too old to be so irrationally sentimental. Just my honest opinion.

 

I have no words to describe how offensive this is to me.

 

For what it's worth, there are those of us who don't eat animals, either, not because they are "cute" but because we believe it is wrong to kill other beings for our enjoyment.

 

Am I irrational, too? Or are the people who are so adamant about preserving life in other circumstances but who gladly eat animals every day the irrational ones?

 

Ugh.

[TXMomof4]

I definitely think dissection is something that can wait until the mid-high school years. Whether you want to "force" it at that point depends on what your son is interested in doing. If he is interested in majoring or minoring in Biology in college, entering a medical or veterinary field - at some point he will need to do dissections. All my college biology for majors courses assumed some prior experience with dissection (I did worm and frog as a freshman in hs and cat as a junior).

 

 

:iagree: I wouldn't push it at all. Do a virtual dissection unless your child has a stated goal of being in a science field.

[kwickimom]

I am gun totin' hunter that lives on a farm and my kids have seen us hunt and slaughter and process meat. I opted out of dissection in middle school and then opted out of going to a hog slaughter farm in college. We now have 4 hogs waiting to slaughter in the backyard and I can gut a deer with the best of them.

 

I would never ever ever MAKE my kids do a dissection. I would never make them go hunting, or watch us slaughter an animal either. If a child is going to be heartbroken over an animals death, who the heck am I to push that on them? What is that going to accomplish?

 

I dont think doing or not doing a dissection is going to affect them one way or another through life. My sister who is 16 would be nothing but traumatized over a dissection. It would be cruel to make her do one.

[msk]

I agree with those who said they'd never force someone who finds it truly upsetting to do dissections.

 

However, I think it is shocking that our food system allows us to both eat meat regularly *and* be upset by dissections. Perhaps we would eat less meat and demand (and pay extra for) better living conditions for the animals we do eat if we were forced to think about where our meat came from on a regular basis, and perhaps that would be a good thing.

 

Please don't think I'm judging anyone here, I'm a meat-eater myself. It's the system I have a problem with.

[Jenny in Florida]

However, I think it is shocking that our food system allows us to both eat meat regularly *and* be upset by dissections. Perhaps we would eat less meat and demand (and pay extra for) better living conditions for the animals we do eat if we were forced to think about where our meat came from on a regular basis, and perhaps that would be a good thing.

 

No disagreement here, and I don't eat meat (or dairy products, because of the living conditions of the animals).

[asta]

I agree with those who said they'd never force someone who finds it truly upsetting to do dissections.

 

However, I think it is shocking that our food system allows us to both eat meat regularly *and* be upset by dissections. Perhaps we would eat less meat and demand (and pay extra for) better living conditions for the animals we do eat if we were forced to think about where our meat came from on a regular basis, and perhaps that would be a good thing.

 

Please don't think I'm judging anyone here, I'm a meat-eater myself. It's the system I have a problem with.

 

I was wondering about this.

 

Seventh grade is old enough to know that bacon is a pig.

 

 

asta

[CanaryMelody]

I am gun totin' hunter that lives on a farm and my kids have seen us hunt and slaughter and process meat. I opted out of dissection in middle school and then opted out of going to a hog slaughter farm in college. We now have 4 hogs waiting to slaughter in the backyard and I can gut a deer with the best of them.

 

I would never ever ever MAKE my kids do a dissection. I would never make them go hunting, or watch us slaughter an animal either. If a child is going to be heartbroken over an animals death, who the heck am I to push that on them? What is that going to accomplish?

 

I dont think doing or not doing a dissection is going to affect them one way or another through life. My sister who is 16 would be nothing but traumatized over a dissection. It would be cruel to make her do one.

 

:iagree:

[Jenny in Florida]

Seventh grade is old enough to know that bacon is a pig.

 

Certainly. But would parents who wish to insist that their 7th graders do these dissections and make that connection be okay with their children going vegetarian?

 

In my case, it took a few years from the time I read Charlotte's Web to actually going veg, but I can absolutely draw the straight line from one to the other.

[justamouse]

Yikes that is hard.

 

I get how sensitive he is, really. I would make him do them. They are just huge as far as learning is concerned. Yes, there will bethe peopel that don't do them and get into colleges and such, but there's an understanding that is learned when you do them.

 

My bio teacher took a fetal pig's eye and flicked it at us. After I was over the horror, and devastation, I thought it was the best part of the whole course. But she was a *phenomenal* teacher.

 

And I'm a person who has cried while they butchered their chickens, but it was a reverential thing. Dissecting is really learning to respect the animals and how incredibly they (and we) are made.

[Jenny in Florida]

I get how sensitive he is, really. I would make him do them. They are just huge as far as learning is concerned. Yes, there will bethe peopel that don't do them and get into colleges and such, but there's an understanding that is learned when you do them.

 

My bio teacher took a fetal pig's eye and flicked it at us. After I was over the horror, and devastation, I thought it was the best part of the whole course. But she was a *phenomenal* teacher.

 

Seriously, I would have ended up in therapy (or worse) if someone had tried to "make" me do such a thing.

 

And I would have filed a complaint about the teacher.

[kwickimom]

What do you think will be the outcome of forcing a child to dissect when it makes them cry?

 

I would be interested in hearing about a person who didnt get into their college of choice because they didnt dissect an animal or bug. I can see this as nothing but traumatic for a child who doesnt want to do it.

 

Eating meat and dissecting an animal are two totally different things. A person can know where their food came from, and understand and respect the people that make it happen, without needing to make it happen themselves. You can know that your burger was once a cow, but still not want to cut up a bug or animal.

[Miss Peregrine]

This thread has been helpful for me. DD is starting Biology and I was going to make her dissect. She really didn't want to.

 

I dissected a cat in my high school AP Bio. It was gross at first, but actually pretty cool. I am assuming it came from the pound. It was pregnant, too.

 

I didn't know if the virtual labs were a viable alternative but it sounds like they a so she will be doing those.

[angela in ohio]

I don't think 7th grade is particularly young. In school, everyone did them in 6th grade: worm, crayfish, frog, fish, fetal pig. (My mom was nice enough to call me in sick for the fetal pig, as I faint easily.)

 

I do agree that it is funny to worry about a worm, but not about the chicken or cow that was dinner. We are so removed from what we eat. My dc didn't have a problem with dissection, but they know the steer that ends up in our freezer every year. :001_smile:

 

Anyway, I wouldn't make him do it if he doesn't want to, because you can find virtual options online instead. I would hate to turn someone off of science over something like this.

[newbie]

no they have virtual labs

[mommymilkies]

What do you think will be the outcome of forcing a child to dissect when it makes them cry?

 

I would be interested in hearing about a person who didnt get into their college of choice because they didnt dissect an animal or bug. I can see this as nothing but traumatic for a child who doesnt want to do it.

 

Eating meat and dissecting an animal are two totally different things. A person can know where their food came from, and understand and respect the people that make it happen, without needing to make it happen themselves. You can know that your burger was once a cow, but still not want to cut up a bug or animal.

 

I agree. We did not do dissections in school, except for Bio 2. I did not take it, but still got into a good university, had a 4.0 science gpa, and did wonderful in prw-med.

[kchara]

Yikes that is hard.

 

I get how sensitive he is, really. I would make him do them. They are just huge as far as learning is concerned. Yes, there will bethe peopel that don't do them and get into colleges and such, but there's an understanding that is learned when you do them.

 

My bio teacher took a fetal pig's eye and flicked it at us. After I was over the horror, and devastation, I thought it was the best part of the whole course. But she was a *phenomenal* teacher.

 

And I'm a person who has cried while they butchered their chickens, but it was a reverential thing. Dissecting is really learning to respect the animals and how incredibly they (and we) are made.

 

:iagree: I'd probably make him, or at the very least, make him watch while I did. I also agree that 13 is probably a bit old to be *that* sensitive about it, IMHO.

[Dawn in OH]

Virtual dissection is a wonderful thing. Google it.

 

I don't think I would make the kids do a dissection, especially since there's another option.

[LittleIzumi]

I agree with those who said they'd never force someone who finds it truly upsetting to do dissections.

 

However, I think it is shocking that our food system allows us to both eat meat regularly *and* be upset by dissections. Perhaps we would eat less meat and demand (and pay extra for) better living conditions for the animals we do eat if we were forced to think about where our meat came from on a regular basis, and perhaps that would be a good thing.

 

Please don't think I'm judging anyone here, I'm a meat-eater myself. It's the system I have a problem with.

 

We teach about the animal industry here & I'm mostly vegetarian because of it. However, dd knows & thinks it's lovely that animals taste so delicious. More pig meat please mom! :001_huh: She would also probably adore dissection though. She already had me find one online dissection/interactive diagram because she wanted to find out what was inside a spider. If she objected I wouldn't force her, but I don't think that will be an issue.

[LidiyaDawn]

 

I get how sensitive he is, really. I would make him do them.

 

If someone "made" me do dissections, I'd be crying & throwing up on the floor.

 

(as an adult)

[justamouse]

If someone "made" me do dissections, I'd be crying & throwing up on the floor.

 

(as an adult)

 

And eventually you'd get over it. You make yourself. I had to butcher my chickens. I cried, I got sick to my stomach, I hated the first few. Then I started *doing* it. It IS a reverential thing. I can't explain it any more than that. You've raised them, fed them, played with them, and now they are feeding you. You cry, you take a deep breath and you do it. And you become stronger for it.

 

I don't think virtual dissections are anything like a real one. You might as well cut out paper organs and show how they puzzle together. I can tell you how to butcher the chicken, I can describe every step, I can show you pictures. But doing it is an entirely different thing. You *see* how it works. Tissue and a computer screen are not the same.