Alaska is known for its tough men and equally tough women. Now, thanks to a group of cold-hearted middle schoolers in Palmer, we can add children to the list. According to the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, a group of middle school PE students taunted a moose so badly that he killed himself. I just don’t understand how we have come to this. What makes a person tease an animal big enough to kill an adult male so severely that it kills itself? According to other students who witnessed the tragedy, the students doing the teasing were laughing at the moose as it threw itself into the fence and made fun of the witnesses for crying and feeling sorry for the moose.
As an educator, I see cruelty almost every day. Children can be cruel to each other as well as to adults, if we let them. If taught from an early age that this behavior is unacceptable, it stops. Too many parents these days are either too busy to take the time to see what kind of people their children are becoming, or they just don’t care. We must do more to raise our children. When our children don’t have the sense to not only stay away from moose but to tease and taunt them, we have failed.
These kids are lucky. I could be writing this story about their death instead of the moose’s. I can only hope they understand what they have done and have some sense of remorse.
Sick, sick, sick. These kids need a punishment to fit the crime. I suggest they be ordered to each take part in skinning and cutting up the moose for food–and I do mean take direct part in it, as in getting bloody, sawing the bones, etc. They need to learn that the only acceptable reason to kill an animal (other than for euthanasia) is for food.
A commenter on the Frontiersman said Sarah Palin has nothing to do with this incident, but I disagree. When Sarah is actively promoting killing wolves from airplanes and gassing wolf pups in their dens, kids get the message that it’s OK to be cruel and inhumane to animals, and that their suffereing does not matter.
I was horrifed when I read this. What o earth will become of kids like this?
This is heartbreaking…One of the things I’ve come to envy most about you lovely Alaskans is the daily visits from Mudflats’ Brian and his pals. Giant, lumbering beasts with soulful eyes that emit grace and compassion. I’m COMPLETELY biased, of course. They don’t tip over my swingsets. They don’t eat my spring foliage. But no matter the nusance, this sort of devious behavior on the part of up-right, higher-brained mammals is troubling.
Those kids should be lined up and thrown into that same fence until they wish they were dead instead.
Make their names public so we can watch out for them and their parents.
I am trying to find out what to do about this. I have read the article, and apparently the staff of Colony Middle School in Palmer is stonewalling the press. Details about the abuse, who was involved, why the CMS staff allowed the students to be released in the schoolyard for P.E. unsupervised, or why as reported in the ADN (Alaska Daily News) a “teacher watched as the students taunted the animal” and did nothing to intervene or stop the behavior – are all unanswered questions. Students have come forward anonymously and said there was no teacher there, and they had to run to get one and 5 minutes went by before anyone came. Another blogger on the Frontiersman commented the teacher in question was in the locker room at the time and said that was “where they belonged.” I don’t see the logic in that. I believe if the students are minors, they must be supervised by a responsible adult at all times. The title of this blog is very clever “Where men are men, women are pitbulls, and children kill moose.” It pains me, however, we are not all like that at all. I am very angry these children did this, and also upset the moose died, and the school is refusing to reveal the facts of the matter to the public. We pay taxes for the public schools, and I expect better than to have young punks torment a baby moose to death on school grounds during school hours. Not only that, but apparently, dozens of students not involved in the incident, were trying in vain to intervene – had to witness the animal’s torment and death. I am really steamed up about this. I am an Alaskan, and I live in Wasilla. I did not vote for Sarah Palin, and I abhor her aerial wolf hunting program. Alaskans twice voted against aerial wolf hunting in the past. I also despise her attempts to keep the endangered polar bear off the endangered list so she can facilitate offshore oil drilling. But, that aside, this act of animal cruelty might be a punishable criminal offense. While I think the students responsible need psychiatric care and just punishments (and I heard two of them were only suspended for a few days each) – I am disturbed about the school’s apparent cover up. I think they are only making matters worse. If they have to shield the student’s names, that is regrettable but understandable, but what exactly did happen? Who was the adult school employee who either watched and did nothing to keep it from happening, or who was not there? I checked, and Alaska criminal law 11.61.140 Cruelty to Animals, “prohibits cruelty in the second degree, which is: knowingly inflicting severe and prolonged physical pain or suffering on an animal. The penalty (if the offender is an organization) is $500,000 if it results in death (to the animal).” I want to get this information to someone who can do something about it. As I understand the moose might have been a baby animal. There have been many conflicting stories because the school district refuses to reveal details so far – and so many varied stories are bandying about. I want to know the name of the supervising adult at the school, and I think social services, the local troopers, and the school district need to take this matter very seriously. I’m not worried about the troopers. I trust they can do their jobs. But, I am doubtful about the school district at this point. I don’t trust what they are saying, and I don’t trust they have taken the matter seriously enough.
Hi Alaska Mom:
A year later and I am still saddened and furious with these rotten kids as well as the obvious cover up by the school.
I don’t live in Alaska, but I was wondering if any updates have come out on this tragic incident.
A couple days suspension is a joke for sick monsters.
Becky
I was also disturbed and was contacted by friends and asked if my kids had anything to do with this. It was annoying.
CMS has to stonewall the press, Alaska Mom. They can get sued if they do anything wrong and their first responsibility is to their employees. (The employees’ first responsibility is to their contracts, not the students.)
These kids are old enough to know better and the bulk of the responsibility, for kids of this age, has to be on them. It will be next to impossible to release employee names without giving details of the students.
Why does it matter who the employees are?
This story made http://detentionslip.org ! Check it out for all the crazy headlines from our schools.
That is so sad….how does anyone derive pleasure from an act like this?
Those kids should be lined up and thrown into that same fence until they wish they were dead instead.
Make their names public so we can watch out for them and their parents.
Interesting perspective there, Bob. Should we beat all kids who make bad decisions to death? Or just these kids?
I’d suggest you all take a deep breath.
First, you’re basing your reactions on a report in the Frontiersman, not exactly the font of accurate reporting – and in this case the initial stories in the Frontiersman and the ADN were incomplete.
Second, the school is not stonewalling. The principal called the parents, and sent home a detailed letter explaining what happened, and provided a number where she could be contacted directly, and invited everyone concerned to stop by the school and discuss the situation directly. The ADN, CNN, the Frontiersman, and various other media entities contacted the school, and were given full access and copies of the State Police report – what they chose to publish is their business – but you should all bear in mind “Moose dies on CMS campus” doesn’t sell nearly as many papers as “Children Terrorize Moose to Death While Teachers Do Nothing!”
Third, the names of the children cannot be released. They are minors. Releasing their names is against the law, school district policy, and would be dangerous. The school is receiving threats, and threads specifically against the children involved in particular – people who are expressing the same type sentiments as Bob, up there above. The school has a responsibility to protect the students, even if they’ve done something wrong – as in this case. Are you people seriously asking for the school to throw these kids to the lynch mob? You’re all concerned about a moose, but I take it that throwing kids against the wall until they wish they were dead is OK? Since nobody expressed concern at Bob’s comment, I assume you all are good with this?
Look, I realize Bob is probably just engaging in a little angry hyperbole and doesn’t actually intend violence against these children, and the so probably are many others who have expressed similar comments in the ADN, the PETA website, and elsewhere – but the school district cannot take a chance, releasing the names would be utterly irresponsible. If you think about it for a minute, you’ll realize I’m correct.
Fourth, the children were disciplined. Again the exact nature of that punishment is protected by the privacy act, the school may not release it. Something note here, the school and the school district are limited in the scope of punishment. Neither the district, the school, nor the principal have the authority to assign students to field dress a moose, perform community service, or to rot in hell as a number of commenters here and elsewhere have suggested. Nor does the school have the authority to punish the parents – assuming that the parents should be punished for some imagined transgression. Punishment beyond the scope of the school’s authority would have to be meted out by the court, after trial. This is the United States, we are a nation of laws and not ruled by the mob – and reading the comments here, in the ADN, the Frontiersman, and on my own site I’d say that’s a damned good thing. The children would have to be accused, tried, and found guilty first. Which brings us to my last point:
The incident was investigated by the Alaskan Department of Fish and Wildlife, and by the State Police – both of which considered this to be an unfortunate accident – but that no laws were broken, either by the students or the school. I’ve spoken to both, and to the principal, and to my own son who was there (though not directly involved). I am a resident of the Palmer Community and involved in the school. There is no stonewalling, no conspiracy, no cover up. If there was, I’d be the first person screaming. This incident is regrettable and the children’s behavior is inexcusable – but thirteen year olds often make poor decisions, these aren’t the first and won’t be the last and it is important to view this in perspective, and understand that good things will come of it. The school is implementing curriculum to teach the kids about wildlife encounters, training that may their life and the lives of wildlife in the future, and hopefully will prevent this type of incident in the future.
Again, I’m not trying to justify this incident or dismiss what happened, but is is important to get the facts correct before you rush to judgement and refrain from adding to the hysteria, and above all refrain from kneejerk judgement and calls for violence like Bob’s comment above.
Can I point out that the majority of serial killers start out as children being cruel to animals?
I never believed that people remarking about the kids were doing more than venting, and using some unfortunate word choices. There was not enough information released, and the little that was for more than a week was confusing, misleading, and sketchy. I have read almost all of the comments, and there was more than enough misunderstanding to go around. But, it was interesting that many children – with no agenda of their own – did speak out. I took every report as to the events with a grain of salt, but over all it did seem there were two boys who acted inappropriately. And unfortunately for the moose this caused its untimely death. I’m well aware dozens of moose get hit by cars between Palmer and Anchorage every winter. Somehow, that seems to be more of an unavoidable accident than two 13 or 14 year old boys taunting and harassing a yearling moose – to death. The fish and game man, and the troopers said the moose was already in bad shape. Why didn’t they say this right away? It didn’t seem entirely believable – or more importantly, if the moose was weak, starving, ailing in some way – it by no means justified tormenting it further until it went over the brink. If anything it made the whole incident worse in my opinion. I certainly hope no one was serious for one minute about hurting the boys. I think many people reacted in a visceral way at the idea of bullies in school. Most of us have personally encountered them in some form. And, even though it is an unpleasant thing to hear – it does happen some times that early cruelty toward helpless animals by young people leads to more serious crimes later. I’m not talking about low-tech subsistence hunting done with respect to the animal, by adults, and done with enough skill to provide a clean kill where the animal does not have to suffer needlessly. A little tough love might not be the worst thing in the world for those two boys. In fact, a mild slap on the wrist only tends to give the message that they can get away with anything. I think a lot of people were angry at the thought of the waste of a perfectly good life (for the moose) and the cruelty the animal had to suffer for no good reason. I would hope that no one would ever harm a child – no matter how insensitive, cruel, or just plain misguided they might be. I hope the parents take this seriously, and the school does so as well because to do anything else seems like an irresponsible disservice to the boys, and the easy way out for the adults. The boys probably wanted attention, and they might be crying out for discipline and guidance. Most Alaskan kids are pretty saavy about wildlife, in general, and they would not do something this foolish and dangerous. Although I must say many adults might do something similar to what they did, and that is shameful. But, most Alaskan kids in the Valley are really good kids, and they are raised to be strong, and independent, and yet respectful. If anyone should encounter a wild animal – the best thing to do is to leave it alone, give it space, and let it live. Most wild animals will not charge or bother humans unless they have been pre-conditioned not to fear humans, or they are extremely hungry. In most cases a wild animal will avoid encountering a human, and is further inclined to if the human uses some common sense. This earth ought to be big enough for ourselves, and other species to share. I was not surprised a lot of people came out and said “its just a stupid moose” and other clueless and insensitive things. It was a living creature, and it had a right to its own life no less than any of us. If we must ever kill an animal to live, and we do so with respect, that is one thing. But, to torment other creatures, or kill needlessly, is not good enough. Human beings are supposed to have some judgement and restraint. Children are supposed to be guided and supervised. The incident appeared to be a red flag that something was not quite right at Colony Middle School. That does not mean it is so, but I think people had a right to be upset – as long as that is all it is. There is never an excuse for hurting a child, but sometimes some non-violent and appropriate tough love might be appropriate in certain situations in order to keep kids on the right path in life. I pray this all turns out well for all concerned, and any potential problems will be dealt with appropriately.
Ive read many many bad things on the internet about what ppl would (like) to do to the boys that killed that moose and how bad they (the boys) are and how they should be punished .. well as the uncle of one of them let me say this …
Are you ppl serious??!! .. listen to your selves .. YOU are the ones that need (help) you talk about hurting CHILDREN but call THEM deranged murderers!! .. you dont know any facts about what happend but your wanting to know names and personal info on the kids..WHY?! …My sister was terrified to let her 13yo son go back to school after all the threats ppl posted and mailed in ..let me explain a few REAL facts about what happend .. First it was early spring ..Moose are (stressed) from winter at this time of year and MANY just die from it ..2nd my Nephew didnt TORTURE the animal into killing it self ..he and his friend went outside at PE because they where supposed to and they found the animal on the field outside and tried to scare it off..like MANY MANY ppl do that find moose in there yards eating there flowers or gardens.. they tossed SMALL stones and SMALL sticks that where on the ground and yelled at it to try and scare it away..NOT to torture it for pleasure.. it ran and it tried to jump a fence and didnt make it and the stress killed it..my Nephew didnt mean it harm ..he didnt intend for it to die but it did and im fed up with what ive been reading on the net about it.. i love my nephew and i know his heart and what type of person he is .. and he is far far better than most of you … i just had to say something and i did and i feel better for it