Principal tells PETA: Kids hunt, get over it

[clayman]

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Principal tells PETA: Kids hunt, get over it

Rural Wisconsin school won't remove photos of students, dead game

By Chris Niskanen

[email protected]

Article Last Updated: 04/16/2008 11:27:02 PM CDT

Do hunting and middle-school education mix?

They do in tiny Poplar, Wis., where a middle-school bulletin board featuring pictures of students with their dead game has been caught in the crossfire of the national anti-hunting movement.

Ken Bartelt, principal of Northwestern Middle School, refuses to take down the pictures of student hunters holding their ruffed grouse, deer and bear after complaints from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

"Half of our school board are hunters,'' he said of the rural northern Wisconsin district, where hunting is a long-held tradition. "How could I explain that to them?"

Last week, PETA wrote to Bartelt, asking him to remove the bulletin board because it encourages a "dangerous mindset" of violence in students.

The bulletin board with about 50 student pictures is in science teacher Russ Bailey's classroom. Bailey is a volunteer firearms safety instructor, and the pictures feature some of his students.

PETA's April 7 news release, however, sparked a flood of e-mails to Bartelt from across the nation, both for and against the bulletin board. The release was posted on PETA's Web site.

"Northwestern Middle School's 'hunting wall' is nothing more than a monument to violence, suffering and death,'' wrote PETA officials. The organization drew further connections between hunting and school shootings, including the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in Colorado.

Responding to the furor has "been very time-consuming for us,'' said Bartelt, whose rural school is in a town of 570 people.

Bartelt said his research shows no connection between hunting and school violence. He fired off a letter to PETA saying, "Hunting is a part of the culture, not only in our school but in many parts of the country, and especially so in northern Wisconsin.

"Students here at school get excited about it, and it seems that's all they talk about before and after they return."

During his five years as principal, he said, there have never been any violent acts. Even fistfights are "almost nonexistent," he wrote.

Bartelt doesn't hunt and grew up "a city kid." In an interview, he said, "Violence in our society is because of family and societal issues. I think hunter safety classes and hunting teaches respect for weapons, and that they are not for fun, destruction or violence. Hunters are probably the least violent subset of our society."

The bulletin board has been on Bailey's wall for many years and features the same hunting pictures printed in local newspapers, Bartelt said.

PETA's Sangeeta Kumar, who wrote the letter to Bartelt, said hunting and animal abuse lead to abuse of humans.

"There is a very strong connection between animal abuse and abuse toward human beings," she said. "As far as we're concerned, hunting is animal abuse. In these days of school violence, we shouldn't be encouraging kids to pick up guns."

She said PETA would not print Bartelt's response letter on its Web site. "It's not our responsibility to defend indefensible actions," she said.

The bulletin board was featured in a newsletter to parents called News of Your Schools. Kumar said the newsletter was sent to PETA after several Poplar citizens alerted the organization, based in Norfolk, Va.

It's not the first time PETA has targeted Wisconsin pastimes. The group once requested that the Green Bay Packers change the team's name because it highlighted violence to animals in slaughterhouses. It suggested Green Bay Six Packers, to honor the state's beer-brewing tradition.

While hunting may be part of the culture of northern Wisconsin, "culture is no excuse for cruelty,'' Kumar said.

Bartelt said he hasn't received complaints from Poplar citizens or parents about the hunting-picture bulletin board. He said if it weren't for hunting, the ancestors of today's PETA members might not have survived life in the wilderness.

"I doubt there were many vegetarians 150 years ago,'' he said. "PETA's members' ancestors survived because of hunting. Why was it acceptable for their great grandfathers to hunt? It seems hypocritical to me at some point."

Read PETA's letter and Principal Ken Bartelt's response...

PETA’s letter to Principal Bartelt

Ken Bartelt, Principal

Northwestern Middle School

10555 E. U.S. Hwy. 2

Poplar, WI 54864

April 7, 2008

Dear Principal Bartelt,

I’m writing on behalf of PETA and our more than 1.8 million members and supporters worldwide. A member in your community has contacted us recently about the disturbing actions of one of your school’s teachers. The teacher erected a “hunting wall,” where students are encouraged to display pictures of animals that they have killed. We hope you agree that in this era of increased violence and school-shooting rampages, it is vital that students learn to foster empathy for others rather than aggression. Teaching children to exercise kindness and respect and to protect even the smallest and most unloved among us helps them to value one another and the world around them. The “hunting wall” undermines these efforts and sets a precedent for a dangerous mindset that glorifies—and even rewards—violence. We urge you to permanently prohibit this kind of display on school property.

Violent acts toward animals have long been recognized as indicators of a dangerous psychopathy that does not confine itself to animals. You might not be aware of the following chilling facts:

· According to published reports, in every recent school shooting, a consistent warning sign preceded the attacks: All the young killers abused and/or killed animals before turning on their classmates.

· The majority of inmates scheduled to be executed for murder at California’s San Quentin penitentiary “practiced” their crimes on animals, according to the warden

· FBI profilers, the American Psychiatric Association, law enforcement officials, and child-advocacy organizations all agree that animal abuse is a warning sign often seen in children who eventually direct violence toward humans.

As educators, we must start making lessons of compassion a priority. Instilling a sense of compassion in children today is the best way to prevent violence tomorrow. As a humane educator for 15 years, I have worked with students all over the country to inspire them to make a positive impact in their communities. If you need any assistance, I would be happy to help you develop a program to replace the “hunting wall” with something positive and empowering, such as a wall to recognize students who have shown exceptional character by helping their peers, animals, or the community at large. This wall would help foster an environment that promotes social responsibility, which your school’s mission statement claims to embrace.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

Sangeeta Kumar, M. Ed.

TeachKind Coordinator

Principal Bartelt’s letter to PETA

To: Sangeeta Kumar, PETA

From: Ken Bartelt, Principal

I would like to respond to the fax you sent me the morning of April 7th. There are several issues on which I feel your letter to me was either inaccurate or uninformed, or both.

(1) Hunting is a part of the culture not only in our school but in many parts of the country, and especially so in northern Wisconsin. Hunting in many cases is a family activity that has been passed down from generation to generation. Families spend weeks before hunting season getting ready and often time plan their family vacations around hunting season. Students here at school get excited about it and it seems that’s all they talk about before and after they return. These aren’t violent students—they are taking part in family culture and it’s important to them. Between hunting and Packer games—not much else is bigger in these families’ lives when the fall season rolls around. The hunting wall is an extension of that culture here in our community.

(2) The hunting wall does not glorify violence. The hunting wall represents how many people provide for their families. People here hunt for a much different reason than someone taking a safari to be able to trophy some exotic animal. Many, if not most, hunt so they can have food for the year. They do not hunt “for fun” but rather to feed their families. In the article about Mr. Bailey, it mentions that this is part of what he also teaches—how to prepare the animals for consumption. There is no glorifying killing, but rather showing students how to hunt properly and safely and then eat what they have killed.

(3) To correlate hunting with increased violence in our society and with youth, as your letter states, does not hold merit. If hunting did indeed lead to violent behavior, then there would have been much more violence in our society in past generations when more people hunted compared to today. Hunters are not a growing number in our country. Their numbers have declined as our society has changed to a more urban lifestyle. Yet violence has increased dramatically in our society at the same time the number of hunters has decreased. Violence in our society is from a wide range of social and family influences, but not from hunting. Hunters are taught respect for weapons and what they should and should not be used for. They do this not only to protect themselves, but other hunters as well. Hunters are not a violent sub-set of society and to imply such is not only wrong but also unfair to hunters everywhere.

(4) Your quote, “violent acts toward animals have long been recognized as indicators of a dangerous psychopath” is extremely out of context. The people you are referring to are those people that as youth either abused or tortured a family pet, or found a frog or animal in their yard and then slowly killed it without any remorse or found some pleasure in the animal’s suffering. Those are, indeed, sick people. But this is NOT what hunting or hunters are about. To try to make that connection that young people growing up and participating in hunting will have a greater tendency to be a dangerous psychopath is grossly unfair to hunters of all ages.

(5) Your letter said that “in every recent school shooting….all the young killers abused and/or killed animals before turning on their classmates.” I have never seen any information of this kind to date. If you have any data to back up your statement, please forward it to me. From what I’ve read in newspapers and magazines, school shootings are more the result of students being victimized by teasing, harassment, bullying, and social isolation—not from students who have hunted wild game.

(6) Your letter gives the tone, and even uses the phrase “dangerous mindset”, that this school, and me as the principal, condone violence and do not work on social responsibility. I have five sons. Two of which have gone through this middle school and one is in it right now. If I thought for even one second that anything we do here would promote violence or lead to anyone being harmed, I would put a stop to it immediately. I care deeply about providing a safe school where students feel comfortable and secure in their safety. This is my 5th year as principal here and we have had very few violent behaviors in those five years. Fighting is almost non-existent and overall our students are well behaved. The fact that many of these same students partake in hunting is a testament that hunting does not lead to violence in the school.

(7) Your letter states that you would be happy to help me “develop a program to replace the hunting wall with something positive and empowering.” We already have an advisory program that every 2-3 weeks works on one of the 36 character education qualities that we promote in the school. We work very hard to instill good values into our students so they grow up to be good citizens someday. I feel our hunting wall is something positive for our students and our community and in no way has negatively affected how well run this school is or how well behaved our students are. We have a caring staff and the support of a good community—those are far more important factors.

After reading this, you are more than likely under the impression that I’m a pickup truck driving, rifle carrying, NRA supporting, devout hunter myself. The fact is—I’ve never shot a weapon in my life. My dad wasn’t a hunter and I never took an interest in it and still don’t. However, I have a great deal of respect for hunters and for people like Mr. Bailey who teach hunter safety. A great majority of hunters hunt responsibly; eat what they’ve harvested, and help keep deer herds in check. Our hunting wall is a reflection of this culture and still has my support.

I think the starvation of animals, mistreatment and/or neglect of pets and livestock is something that is wrong and I support PETA on those stances. However, your intentions should not extend to hunting or fishing.

Thank you for bringing this issue to your web page and to our local media. You have my permission to print my response in its entirety so others can get the entire picture of what our school is doing and to dispel the accusations contained in your letter.

[Grant-KS]

That guy's got a really good head on his shoulders!!! And...PETA is still...stupid.

[wtnhunt]

Great reply from a smart non hunter, probably a lot nicer than I would have been though. Kind of sounds like what I would expect from the principal of my oldest daughter's middle school. With reading this, now I would kind of wonder if peta has tried anything like that around here. The schools here host occasional hunters education courses and promote it. No secret either that the principal of the middle school is into hunting, announcements encouraging safe practices prior to season openings are the norm from what my daughter tells me.

[Bowtech_archer07]

I agree, that is a great reply from a very smart non-hunter. I would definitely not have been that polite. When I harvested animals in junior and high school, I brought pictures and showed them off. Oh and guess what, I never killed anybody because of hunting!! What the heck is PETA thinking.... stupid.

[stevebeilgard]

good response to a stupid letter. now, let them sue...

[DU_man_84]

great response from a non hunter, and im sorry i gotta laugh at the thought of the "green bay six packers":D

[PotashRLS]

A very calm, collected, and educating reply. I'm very impressed!

I would have told them to POUND SAND!!!