{"id":1522341,"date":"2024-02-27T17:19:36","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T17:19:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/radiofree.asia\/?guid=c268a379d8522964c7ba73ef02629dfa"},"modified":"2024-02-27T17:19:36","modified_gmt":"2024-02-27T17:19:36","slug":"teens-boasting-of-beating-an-opossum-to-death-prompts-peta-empathy-curricula-for-dubuque-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2024\/02\/27\/teens-boasting-of-beating-an-opossum-to-death-prompts-peta-empathy-curricula-for-dubuque-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"Teens\u2019 Boasting of Beating an Opossum to Death Prompts PETA Empathy Curricula for Dubuque Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following reports that two local teens beat an opossum to death and proudly posted a video of their violent act on social media, TeachKind\u2014PETA\u2019s humane education division\u2014sent Western Dubuque Community School District Superintendent Dan Butler<\/a> and Dubuque Community Schools Superintendent Amy Hawkins<\/a> urgent letters today, along with kindness-to-animals educational materials, including Empathy Now<\/a>, a guide to preventing violence by young people, and Challenging Assumptions<\/a>, which helps students examine discrimination and other social justice issues. TeachKind is also offering class sets of Animalkind: Remarkable Discoveries About Animals and Revolutionary New Ways to Show Them Compassion<\/em><\/a> by PETA President Ingrid Newkirk to the districts\u2019 high schools.<\/p>\n

\"collage<\/a>The disturbing video shows the teens beating the opossum with metal folding chairs and at one point maneuvering a chair like a guillotine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen young people feel it\u2019s enviable to beat a wild animal to death in a quest for social media notoriety, it\u2019s clear how critical it is to be taught empathy from an early age,\u201d says PETA Senior Director of Youth Programs Marta Holmberg. \u201cCompassion can be cultivated, and TeachKind stands ready to help Dubuque schools teach their students that every sentient being, whether an opossum or a classmate, deserves empathy and respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sandy Hook Promise<\/a> includes cruelty to animals on its \u201c10 Critical Warning Signs of Violence\u201d list, and research shows that approximately 43% of school shooters<\/a> first committed acts of cruelty against animals\u2014so animal abusers potentially pose a serious threat to communities at large. TeachKind resources are easy to integrate into schools\u2019 existing curricula to help prevent future violence.<\/p>\n

PETA\u2014whose motto reads, in part, that \u201canimals are not ours to abuse in any way\u201d\u2014points out that Every Animal Is Someone<\/a> and offers free Empathy Kits<\/a> for people who need a lesson in kindness. TeachKind offers free presentations, lessons, and other resources to help teachers add compassion to their curricula. For more information, please visit TeachKind.org<\/strong><\/a> or follow the group on Facebook<\/strong><\/a> or Instagram<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The post Teens\u2019 Boasting of Beating an Opossum to Death Prompts PETA Empathy Curricula for Dubuque Schools<\/a> appeared first on PETA<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following reports that two local teens beat an opossum to death and proudly posted a video of their violent act on social media, TeachKind\u2014PETA\u2019s humane education division\u2014sent Western Dubuque Community School District Superintendent Dan Butler and Dubuque Community Schools Superintendent Amy Hawkins urgent letters today, along with kindness-to-animals educational materials, including Empathy Now, a guide… Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n

The post Teens\u2019 Boasting of Beating an Opossum to Death Prompts PETA Empathy Curricula for Dubuque Schools<\/a> appeared first on PETA<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25325,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3406,10319,2646],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1522341"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25325"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1522341"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1522341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1522342,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1522341\/revisions\/1522342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1522341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1522341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1522341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}