A Teacher Killed, Skinned, And Butchered A Rabbit In Biology Class; The Kids Were Not Amused

High school students always appreciate a teacher who tries to give lessons in innovative, attention-getting ways, but a Nampa, Idaho high school biology teacher might have overdone it just a bit: the teacher is facing disciplinary action for killing (by breaking its neck), skinning and butchering a rabbit in front a 10th grade class, The Independent is reporting.

Nampa School District spokeswoman Allison Westfall told KTVB (Boise) that the rabbit-butchering lesson was not a part of the District’s 10th grade biology curriculum, and the teacher doing the lesson did so without approval of the school administrators.

“A teacher brought in a rabbit, and did a demonstration about how a rabbit would be prepared as food for a family… It’s not appropriate in the 10th grade class. It wasn’t approved by the administration, it’s not part of biology [class,] so that judgment is not appropriate for that type of lesson in the classroom at 10th grade.”

The unnamed teacher – who will be referred to as “Mr. Fudd” for the remainder of this article, for simplicity’s sake – says, in his defense, that the students have been asking him for a rabbit-butchering lesson for some time, and he has always declined, before he finally gave in. Mr. Fudd lives on a farm and raises his own rabbits for food.

Mr. Fudd also did not make his students attend the butchering lesson – he allowed those who didn’t want to see it to be excused from class that day. Still, the students who chose to watch the lesson thought it was a little too much; several of them complained to other teachers, according to KVAL (Eugene, Oregon). Several parents also complained to school administrators.

Considering some of the other questionable school lessons that have made the news recently, a rabbit-butchering lesson seems comparatively tame. An 8th grade sex-ed curriculum in San Diego asked 8th grade girls to publicly declare, in front of their teacher and other students, how far they are willing to go on a date, according to this Inquisitr report; and students in a junior high English class at a tony prep school in Manhattan were recently asked to compose suicide notes.

Columbia High School has, for decades, been a largely rural school, but is slowly becoming urbanized as the Boise suburbs expand.

Mr. Fudd is currently facing disciplinary action for the rabbit lesson, although the specifics of that action have not been made clear, as of this post.

Do you believe that killing, skinning, and butchering a rabbit is an appropriate lesson for a 10th grade biology class?