Posted on 03/05/2008 8:54:28 AM PST by girlangler
Eagle Rock teacher creates insect monitor job to treat creatures respectfully
By Naush Boghossian, Staff Writer
When Eagle Rock teacher Melodie Conrad saw a student stomp on a bug several years ago, she knew she had to do something.
But while student monitors for the hallways, chalkboards and classroom windows have been around for years, nobody was quite prepared for the new duty she created: bug monitor.
Now, if any creepy-crawly wanders into her classroom at Eagle Rock Elementary School & Magnet Center, the student bug monitor swoops in with a paper towel or napkin, scoops up the critter and shepherds it outside.
"I absolutely just feel like we live in a society where violence is prevalent, and I've seen that over the years I've been teaching. I just wanted to be careful that they're exposed to just the opposite in this room," said Conrad, a 21-year teaching veteran.
"I'm not trying to turn them into bug activists. But I hear these kids say how cool it is when they shot this person in a video game or how cool these bloody movies are, and I'm concerned. That made me think."
To get her students to start thinking about the same issues, she asks them why some want to kill bugs. And it's instilled a sense of respect for life among her students.
Rebecca Tokofsky, 9, said she used to call her dad to get rid of a "scary-looking spider." Now, she is eager for her turn to become bug monitor.
"I don't like hurting animals," she said. "Even though they're tiny, they have an ecosystem, and it's a good idea to take bugs outside and to be kind, even though sometimes it's creepy."
Conrad's bug monitor bid comes amid a growing national shift in consciousness toward more socially responsible efforts, from recycling to caring about endangered species.
An Internet search shows several bug-advocate sites including Insect Rights Activists, an organization that "lobbies for the humane treatment of insects."
"Insects are prone to unnecessary slaughter," said Daniel Marlos, department chair of media arts at Los Angeles City College.
So Marlos, who doesn't have a background in entomology, launched www.whatsthatbug.com to offer general information on which insects are harmless.
"What we promote is trying to stop senseless slaughter, just people being afraid of things they know absolutely nothing about," he said. "Once they understand it's not harmful, they don't hurt them, and they become a little bit more tolerant."
But the message also is a lot bigger than just bugs.
"The Web site is trying to promote tolerance on many levels," said Marlos, 51. "It has far greater ramifications in terms of a world view than just killing insects.
"It's more of a prevailing world view that when they don't understand something, they fear it and want to get rid of it."
Dirck Morgan, a 54-year-old radio-TV reporter from Tujunga, said he grew up respecting all forms of life because of martial arts training that started at age 8.
"It boils down to: Unless something is endangering us, like a black widow or bugs that carry germs, I can easily coexist with it," he said.
"I have a deal with nature - it leaves me alone; I leave it alone. I never had a deer pull a knife on me and demand my wallet."
He and his wife have passed that sensibility to their son, 12-year-old Makena.
"It's important because people are going to have to get along with nature sooner or later, and it also teaches them how to behave with other kids as well and how to make new friends," Makena said. "It really does teach me to get along with other kids."
People are paying more attention to such views in the wake of tragedies such as the Columbine High School shooting in 1999 - in which the two students who killed a dozen teens and a teacher had a history of torturing animals.
"Animal issues are becoming more and more a part of our consciousness," said Sangeeta Kumar, coordinator for the teachkind.org program for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which offers schools and colleges free humane-education materials and policy resources.
"If you can teach a child to respect and protect the smallest and most maligned among us, you can help create better citizens who have compassion for others."
But while Kumar said PETA has heard of students being inspired to stop stepping on bugs, the group has never heard of any teacher in the country like Conrad who has created a bug monitor.
To show its gratitude for the unique idea - and in hopes Conrad will serve as an example to others - Kumar said PETA will give the Eagle Rock Elementary instructor a Compassionate Teacher Award.
Still, some suggest society is becoming too sensitive. On the HBO comedy show "Curb Your Enthusiasm," actor Larry David highlighted the issue in an episode last season.
While on a school campus, he notices a spider scurrying on the pavement and stomps on it - only to see horrified faces of students and parents who yell at him for killing a living thing.
Thrown off by the reaction, he defends himself by stating what's obvious to him: It's just a spider.
Marlos acknowledges society might have taken political correctness a bit far and says he wouldn't demonize someone who squashes a bug.
But a higher level of compassion can't be so bad in the world, he said.
"What we're seeing is there's this trend that people used to be vegetarians and now they're vegans, and there's animal rights and animal activism," he said. "People are very much concerned about the environment and are becoming a little bit more understanding."
Still, some say that with all of the bigger problems in the world, it's a bit much to worry about the "feelings" of a spider.
There are plenty of Internet sites that take a stab at the politically correct stance - including the tongue-in-cheek People for the Ethical Treatment of Insects group.
Those who make getting rid of insects their business acknowledge some frustration.
"We're in the pest-control business. That's all we do is kill," said Lori Helwed of Terminix exterminators and pest control in Chatsworth. "It is a little much."
What fish eats them, I thought they were not eaten by anything.
I did bag a bug last year, 5 of them. At peak I was changing them out once a day.
I always trap spiders and lizards etc. then relocate them outside. They contribute to the ecosystem.
A laugh for you and Mr. Grammy.
Too bad it’s too cold here for bugs.
The bluegills take them off the surface. I don’t know if they eat them but they disappear from my sight and that’s good enough for me.
“One the other hand I get a special pleasure out of collecting Japanese beetles by the hundreds and throwing them in the lake for the fish.”
Great idea, I never thought of it. Now I know what to do with the beetles when they invade my rose bushes this year.
God help us that people like this are *teaching* our children.
Leave it to a teacher in Eagle Rock to teach PC.
A little violence is good for our kids, especially in the form of bug killing. If they’re indoors, they’re fair game. LOL
Outdoors is a different story.
Meantime there is no time for teaching the kiddies the three R’s.
If I don't recognize it, I'm not taking any chances.
Not harmful? Tell that to someone who's allergic to them.
As long as the bug isn’t deadly or thrive on trash (i.e. flies, cockroaches, etc), I’ll scoop them up and toss them out the window.
Still... a bug monitor job? I think that’s a bit much. I do this because I choose to, but I don’t lose sleep over the fact that others don’t. Nor am I going to try and force others to do it.
There are over 275,000 abortions per year in California (more than one out of three pregnancies in California ends with an abortion), is she teaching them about THIS uneccessary violence?
Sounds good to me. There’s something wrong with a kid whose first instinct upon seeing something that’s alive and not bothering them is to kill it. It’s not a bad thing to nip such habits in the bud.
Well, since I’m no longer in uniform (these past 30 years), I’m not too concerned on that score. Plus, I don’t post things on UTUBE
Given what passes for school work in many public schools, this is probably a positive thing. What's wrong with missing a few minutes of the umpteenth lecture on how global warming is going to kill us all?
I’ll always remember my 2nd grade teacher who made us tippy toe outside to see a praying mantis coming out of a cocoon in the schoolyard. She made a big deal about how it was illegal to kill them because they were protected by law since they ate other bad insects. This was in 1960 something, before the environmental wackos were loose.
She gave me a profound respect for nature.
I do hate bugs, give me a mouse, or even a rat any day. But I will not kill a spider in the house either. That might be a Spanish custom (?) that my mother passed on (bad luck etc...)
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