BLAIR, Wis. – The Blair-Taylor School District was asked to begin empathy lessons by the organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The request followed felony charges against a group of Blair teen-agers for torturing a possum. The main defendant, Nicholas Kulig, 18, is a high school drop-out but others in a Snapshot video are students. The Blair school superintendent, Jeffrey Eide, was alerted to PETA’s educational module TeachKind. Eide said he was begining communication with his high school principal and school counselor.
Sensitivity classes
The lesson of PETA’s Zoom-delivered TeachKind teaching kit is that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way.” The package is titled “Empathy Now.” There also is a “Share the World” curriculum kit for young children. TeachKind cites mental-health professionals and poiceas saying that perpetrators of violent acts against animals often are repeat offenders who pose serious threats to the public. About the Snapshot video, PETA’s youth programs director, Marta Holmberg, said: “This opossum endured a terrifying, agonizing death at the hands of young people who desperately need lessons in empathy.”
Possum. Forest creatures. Typically the size of a cat. Generally harmless to humans. When frightened, they feign being dead and emit scents suggesting they’re sick or dying until the dangerous gone. They are marsupials who carry their young, called “joeys,” in the mother’s pouch where they nurse. They are nocturnal. They are opportunistic feeders who devour insects and dead rodents and birds. They also feed on eggs, frogs, plants, fruits and grain.