School Field Trip: Slaughterhouse

You wouldn't believe this: my niece, who's a junior in PA's high school, just told me that she and her classmates went on a field trip to learn how sausage was made (for her home ec class). To her shock, they went to the slaughterhouse, showing how they killed the cows (electrocute, if fail, shotgun on it's forehead). Then they hang cows upside down and sliced it bellies for blood drainage and intestines removal. She said the smell is awful, floor is covered with blood that her white tennis shoes are now red. Then they show those poor kids a table full of cow's head. The workers had to find a bullet inside the head. Some kids threw up and some were in shock. The place is approved by meat inspectors.

Now my niece is pretty shaken - she couldn't touch any meat and the smell of meat, even steak cook out make her threw up. I felt bad for her. I think it's a mistake for school to let their kids see some place like that. What do you think?

 

OK, not appropriate for kids who aren't used to it.

Personally though, I grew up on a farm and we used to slaughter our own cows occassionally, pigs and chickens so it doesn't bother me, and hey it is a part of life and its good to know where these things come from, but that is just a farm kid talking.

However like I said not appropriate if you aren't expecting it.

Make sense?

 

Sounds like that should have been an optional field trip to me.

I can only imagine the heck that parents will raise over that one, especially if it was misrepresented in the consent form that parents need to sign.

When I was in home ec in h.s. our field trips were to a local farmers market, and a Japanese restaurant, like Kanki or Kobe.

 

Not sure if the PA in your post refers to her attending HS in Pennsylvania, but if it does, WOW!
and to think, we are considered so unenlightened by those clueless Northerners.
I'm fairly sure that if this type of field trip were under consideration, that appropriate notice to parents would precede it.

 

Funny you say that. I took a Vocational class in high school (South Johnston) and we went to Carolina Packers. The manager got mad at me when I asked him what the animal rights activist thought about how they killed the hogs. Needless to say he made us leave that area.

 

I don't think it has anything to do with where you're from, but yes the parents should have been notified then decide if they wanted their children going on that trip. I hope no matter where the school is the parents raise more of a stink than that place had.

 

what's a cow doing in a sausage plant?

 

Guess I wasn't the only one thinking it!

 

This definitely should have been an optional field trip. How was it represented on the permission forms? Since it's an older student, I would have left it up to them if they wanted to go. But it wouldn't have been my first choice for a field trip.

I don't ever remember going anywhere for home ec...whatever happened to a field trip to the zoo?

(Now I'm feeling old)

 

Sausage can be made of any kind of meat, pork, turkey, beef etc....

:lol: It did make me laugh though when I first read your question :lol:

Geez...my question is why sausage? Why not call the fieldtrip......how a steak is made? Sounds better.

 

in high school advanced biology, we had the 'option' to dissect baby pigs....freaked me out. I barely made it through Biology with the frogs and the chicken embryo's.

 

I took the same class at South Johnston and we went to Carolina Packers. The smell was awful. I know that all hotdogs are made the same way but for a while I would not eat anything from Carolina Packers. All I could think about was the hose with the red dye. :ack:

 

Awww GROSS!!!!!! You brought back that smell!!!!!!!!!!!:ack:

 

FORMALDEHYDE

 

That was one smell you will never forget. People riding by in their cars think it stinks! They should go inside!

What year did you graduate if you don't mind me asking??

 

2000, you?

 

1996

 

We had frogs and fetal pigs in my regular biology class. I think I was one of the only brave girls to do the dissections. When I was in college, we had our choice of fetal pigs or rats. I chose the rat--and it was nasty!

 

bleck....

ours were fetal pigs also....I can see them now floating in that jar, with that smell....


bleck

 

I couldnt hardly get past disecting the frog in h.s. biology... I took an F on the fetal pig project.. there was no way they were getting me to participate in that. I'd have puked all over everyone, repeatedly!