School Possum Hunts
They have negative consequences for the healthy development of empathy in children according to an opinion piece by Lynley Tulloch, published on the SCOOP Independent News website on 10 June 2024.
The article opens with the following statement:
“School possum hunts in Aotearoa New Zealand tend to be polarising. On the one hand is the school’s touted mission of environmental conservation couched in community values and identity. On the other hand, is the killing of animals within the context of schools and education, which is deeply problematic?”
She then goes on to talk about the recent Te Ranga School possum and pest hunt.
Te Ranga School Principal, Aimee Kennedy, described it as “such a big part of our school’s identity and the community loves it”. This event is a huge fundraiser. It has been framed as conservation and kaitiakitanga (guardianship) by the school. The Friends of Te Ranga School is keenly refocusing on this message, building in environmental conservation as an inquiry topic leading up to the event.
Tulloch says that this sounds laudable; children are learning about endemic species, environmental interdependence and ecosystem integrity through this programme, but then asks about what hidden messages are being transmitted to the children?
She states that she agrees it is vital that children learn about the significance of caring for our environment and develop knowledge and understanding of how to do so. She also says she thinks children should be empowered to undertake pro-environmental action. I just don’t think they should be involved in killing animals, or that this is something to be celebrated. I also don’t think that exposing children to masses of dead animals amid a festival atmosphere is healthy. It normalises violence.
She says she went to the Te Ranga School possum and pest hunt to see what their environmental refocus looked like. It had all the hallmarks of a regular school possum hunt. There was a gala day attached to it with pony rides and spin the wheel and hoopla jars of lollies. Excited families were enjoying a community day out.
But the gala day was also full of dead animals. The sheer volume, diversity and smell of these dead animals were overwhelming. The children helped to weigh the possums and watched as dead goats and deer were strung up and she claims this desensitizes children to the killing of animals.
She quotes Dr Emily Major (Ph.D.) who says that we need to reframe education and base it on the principles of compassionate conservation and conservation psychology. She argues that we can protect native species without having to kill possums and other animals.
Education is about growth and change. Involving children in killing animals may have serious consequences for the development of their empathy. Children need opportunities to immerse themselves in nature in positive and affirming ways. While possums may not belong in New Zealand, children can be supported in developing an ethic of care and compassion for them.
Let the gala days be about restoring native bush and planting trees, not killing non-native animals. Maybe we could all join hands and dance around the may-pole singing and chanting to convince the non-native species that we have care and compassion for them and that they should in return not compromise our native flora and fauna; “YEAH RIGHT”.
Dr Major may be convinced that we can protect native species without having to kill possums and other animals but the reality is that the best minds in our country have disagreed and on the basis of their scientific studies, they recommend eradication as the primary means of attempting to protect our native flora and fauna from these introduced species.
These introduced species have no natural predators in our country to keep their numbers from exploding exponentially and as we can see currently this fact has led to a long list of endangered native species of both flora and fauna, resulting from their predations as well as a list of those species that have already succumbed to these effects.
If there were viable methods available to control the introduced pest animals without the need for killing them surely these would have been put into practice long before now.
No matter what Dr Major and others may have convinced themselves in relation to the principles of compassionate conservation and conservation psychology and protecting native species without having to kill possums and other animals; this is no more than the equivalent of “putting the lunatics in charge of the asylum”.
I believe that it is not the killing of animals within the context of schools and education being deeply problematic for the healthy development of empathy in children that is the issue; it is the lack of education in relation to the realities of nature and the protection of our native flora and fauna.
Reality and the results of scientific studies have shown us that we need to eradicate introduced pest species to protect our native flora and fauna and that eradication often involves killing the introduced species.
School Possum hunts are one way of helping to control the explosion in numbers of pest species and have also become large fundraisers in doing so. They are seen by the community as part of their identity but also as conservation and kaitiakitanga (guardianship) by the school and community with schools educating their students on environmental conservation as a learning topic leading up to the events.
Lynley Tulloch says that she doesn’t think children should be involved in killing animals, or that exposing children to masses of dead animals amid a festival atmosphere is healthy. It normalises violence.
This may be so but only if the parents of those children fail in their duty of educating their children in the realities of life. This is not about normalising violence (in fact I believe that is just the authors own interpretation of it), it is about normalising the need to protect our native flora and fauna and killing of those introduced species is a natural part of that protection.
The healthy development of empathy in children has very little to do with whether they attend or participate in a school possum hunt but much to do with their education into the realities of life which is a natural requirement of good parenting and should be a part of every parents responsibility towards their own children.