Nikolas Cruz had got into trouble for shooting chickens. He had also boasted about killing animals and posted images of them on social media. There are even stories about him trying to get his dog to attack a neighbour’s potbellied piglets.
In February 2018, Cruz killed 17 staff and students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Florida.
In the UK, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables would often, according to neighbours, shoot pigeons with air rifles and tie rabbits to railway lines to watch them be run over. In 1993, when they were just 10 years old, they killed toddler James Bulger in Liverpool.
It’s a familiar scenario: a heinous crime has been committed and, afterwards, the background of the perpetrators is analysed and picked over in a bid to uncover if there were warning signs that might have been missed or chances to intervene that were lost.
A picture of chaotic childhoods, peppered with abandonment and violence, often emerges – and, in among the flow of shocking stories, we often hear tales of animal cruelty.
That link between animal cruelty and extreme acts of violence – and psychopathic behaviour traits – has become well established in the public psyche. So much so, in fact, that fears over wrongly outing a child as the next Venables is stopping teachers from reporting incidents, according to Gilly Mendes Ferreira, head of education and policy at the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA). Most teachers recognise there are likely other reasons for the cruelty, but they fear that reporting it will mean only the worst-case conclusion will be considered.
It has become, says Ferreira, something of a “silent area” as a result. And that silence can be extremely damaging.
Changing perceptions
Denne historien er fra October 03, 2019-utgaven av TES.
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Denne historien er fra October 03, 2019-utgaven av TES.
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Try not to get hung up on linguistic convention, chic@s
Languages are like water – they take the easiest route. And, like gender, they are fluid. That is why, as world languages evolve to reflect cultural change, a revolution is under way in the use of ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ terms, writes Heather Martin
Three simple psychology tips for better behaviour
When a pupil is acting up, their motivations are often hidden from view. It’s possible that teachers themselves are partially at fault for setting the wrong tone in their interaction with others, writes Lekha Sharma, who suggests ways to remodel a school culture
This research could be music to your ears…
Schools should resist putting additional time and resources into yet more English and maths lessons and instead give children’s learning a research-evidenced boost by encouraging them to join a band or an orchestra, says Martin Leigh
Minority (school) report
Predictive technology – powered by increasingly complex algorithms – is finding its way into schools, promising to pre-empt misbehaviour, violence or mental health issues before they happen. But does it work, and is its use ethical, asks Simon Creasey
Giving school a spin again
In a bid to improve parental engagement, one Edinburgh school is putting parents in their children’s shoes to experience a typical modern school day – and the results are breathtaking, finds Emma Seith
Averting Pupils' Social Stigma By ‘Poverty Proofing'
Do your school policies unintentionally ‘out’ children from disadvantaged backgrounds? One charity says such occurrences are all too common and have proposed ‘poverty proofing’ as the solution. Lucy Edkins investigates
A Plant-Based Diet Of Learning
Aware of the mental health benefits of green-fingered working, Nigel Cox helped to set up an outreach course at his college to support people recovering from substance abuse and other personal challenges
Social And Emotional Skills In The Early Years
Children who are able to focus their attention, manage their behaviour and interact positively with others from a young age experience better learning outcomes later in life, finds Irena Barker
How Centralised Detentions Get Pupils' Attention
By adopting a consistent whole-school approach to rewards and sanctions, we achieved a marked improvement in attitudes to learning – and reduced teachers’ workload, says Calvin Robinson
Homework Truths
With some studies claiming that homework has little or no impact on pupil achievement, schools have been tempted to cut back on it or ban it altogether. But we shouldn’t write homework off, warn two gurus of UK education research. Steve Higgins and Lee Elliot Major argue that the evidence on homework has been misrepresented – and out-of-school study can, in fact, have a major impact on learning outcomes
