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Sheep Display Empowers Students, Promotes Empathy
Sheep Display Empowers Students, Promotes Empathy
"Please stop your sheep farmers from hurting their sheep."
Eva Ross, age 9
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Ms. Karen Turner, a teacher at the Oz School in Santa Fe, New Mexico, believes that empowering students to make a difference in the world helps them develop self-esteem and personal power. She uses humane education to teach her students these important lessons.
When 12 of her students, ranging from 5 to 12 years old, found out
that farmers in Australia mutilate sheep and ship them to the Middle
East and Asia to be slaughtered, they rolled up the sleeves of their
cotton sweaters and got to work, showing people in their community
that merino wool means shear terror for millions of gentle sheep.
The students grabbed pencils, paper, and a handful of art supplies and wrote a stack of letters to Australian Prime Minister John Howard, asking him to help end the abuse of sheep in the wool industry. They also created posters—which, along with copies of their letters, are on display at a local grocery store—to help people better appreciate sheep as the gentle, loving, feeling beings that they are and understand the horror that sheep raised for wool in Australia are forced to endure.
"Please think about the terrible act you are committing with these animals and consider a more peaceful and humane way to treat your sheep."
Nicole Neidhardt, age 12
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The students were excited to see their work displayed, and Turner tells us that she has been receiving much positive feedback from the community.
Commenting on the display, Turner said, "I think it's effective because the sheep pictures are wonderful and touching. And when people read the text [about mulesing and live exports], they are open to learning what is happening in Australia. ... I think the combination of the pictures and the children's own words takes you to the heart of what is going on. ... The students are thinking for themselves and giving their reaction to the abuse, and it is very powerful."
The students join a growing community of people—and companies—throughout the world who are boycotting Australian wool after learning that life Down Under is far from idyllic for millions of sheep. In Australia, farmers restrain lambs under metal bars and carve away chunks of their flesh without painkillers. This is called "mulesing," and farmers say that it's done to create a smooth scarred area where blowflies cannot lay their eggs, but plenty of humane blowfly-control methods, which don't involve cutting live sheep, are available. When their wool is no longer needed, millions of sheep are tightly packed onto overcrowded, disease-ridden ships and sent to the Middle East or Asia, where their throats are eventually slit while they are still fully conscious.
Turner believes that teaching students about animals is the best way to help them develop empathy at an early age. "When I tried to get the children to do a project for Amnesty International, the issues were too complex for them to really understand it. They couldn't relate to the prisoners' situation. But when the animal shelter approached us to make dog and cat pictures-that was something they could really understand."
Balthazar Kunde, age 6
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Her experience teaching elementary students leads her to believe that children are able to develop empathy for other people when they are around 8 years old but that they can begin empathizing with animals when they are as young as 4. "It's like learning letter sound before you learn to read. I think learning compassion for animals is the place where you start. It leads them to caring about the environment and other people."
Turner points out that whenever she teaches her students about animal issues that are political, she further empowers the students to decide whether or not they would like to be involved and never pressures them to participate. She also tells their parents what she is doing and gives them information on the subject matter. She says the parents are always "very supportive."
View more of the student's artwork and letters
What You Can Do
- Follow in Ms. Turner's footsteps by using TeachKind's "Save the Sheep" lesson to teach your students about sheep and the wool industry while developing their empathy and citizenship skills.
- Watch the video "Australia's Secret Shame" to see for yourself what happens to sheep Down Under. Be advised that the video shows disturbing images of violence toward sheep during mulesing, transportation, and slaughter.
- Learn about the alternatives to wool by requesting a free Compassionate Clothing Shopping Guide.
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