Children at Churchville-Chili Middle School in New York were asked to shake a doll until it stopped crying, indicating that it was dead. The assignment was part of a discussion on “Shaken Baby Syndrome,” and needless to say, many of the children were horrified, and some even refused to shake the baby.
However, some children took glee in the task, as reported at EAG News.
“About 4 boys and 2 girls participated in shaking the baby to death after the teacher demonstrated. The reaction was mixed. Some students put their hands over their mouths, some put their hoods of there sweatshirts up and heads down on the desk. Other students seemed to find this activity amusing and one exclaimed ” Yes!!” when it was her turn to participate. Some kids who found this HILARIOUS and beat the snot out of that ‘baby’ throwing it against the wall, smashing it into desks ect. [sic] until they rejoiced that the ‘baby’ was dead.”
Clearly, asking children to beat up a baby, even if it is only a doll, is not the way to teach kids empathy and compassion. The assignment would have been much better served if children were asked to demonstrate how to properly hold a baby.
Home schooling, anyone?
