Rights... of an insect?

[shellybellypolo]

I'm upset right now over something very small (go figure! You'd all never guess THAT )
But I'm pretty mad at one of our gym teachers/the class.

I was doing my crunches when I saw a tiny baby ant crawling along the floor. Thinking quickly I let it crawl onto my hand. I get weird stares as I'm walking to the gym teacher. It was the guy's turn to play this game we were playing and the girls sat in the bleachers so I saw this as an open oppertunity.
"Excuse me, Mr. _______, can I just go put this ant outside for a second?"
"*teacher shakes head* Go sit in the bleachers."

Uhm.. what?
So I have three options here.
a) sit in the bleachers and throughout the rest of our 40 minutes with a baby ant crawling along my hand
b) kill it
c) put it on the wall or floor and let someone else kill it.

Guess what I did?
I'll give ya time

.
..
...
....
.....
......
.......
........
.........
..........
.........
........
.......
......
.....
....
...
..
.

Ok, if you chose a, you're right.
I sat the entire period with this baby ant crawling on my hand, just watching it to ensure it didn't crawl up my sleeve or get blown off my hand.

Changing back into my clothes was an interesting story.

I blew it outside when the bell rang. I was pretty mad, though. Everyone said to just kill it. Just because we're bigger than it doesn't mean we have a right to kill it. Let's say there really was life off of Earth, and they were aliens the size of skyscrapers. Do they have a right to kill us because we don't have the power to protect ourselves? I want to hear your opinions on rights.

• Do you think what the gym teacher said was right?
• Did I do the right thing?
• What would you have done?

Discuss.

 

[acesupercoolme]

I think you should have just killed it.. that's what I would do. It probably would have gotten stepped on or killed anyways.
What if you didn't find it?
Do you think someone else would have done that?
What if they didn't?

 

[HSMndLKfan92]

I love ants. When I was younger, I made sure that no one in my family stepped on them. Then again, I'm talking about black ants.

Should you have been allowed to go outside? Probably not. If you were doing something important, then no. Class first. If you weren't doing anything, then maybe.

You did the right thing by not killing it. Reminds me of biology in the beginning of the year. My teacher found a bug in our lab (our classrooms are labs), and put a cup over it. After my class (lunch - for the entire school), she let it outside.

I probably would've let the bug continue on its merry way. It has places to go and things to do. I shouldn't be interrupting that cycle.

 

[Californiagurl13]

Well, what he siad wasn't right but you know how teachers are. They don't care about stuff like that.

Ithink you should have just let in free in the gym. Snce it's so small it'll probably won't getb squished.

I would have just let it free in the gym. But still, I like what you did!

 

[shellybellypolo]

I think you should have just killed it.. that's what I would do. It probably would have gotten stepped on or killed anyways.
What if you didn't find it?
Do you think someone else would have done that?
What if they didn't?

If I didn't find it then that would be bad luck for the ant.
I don't know, only that someone else can answer that. Probably not, which is why I want to promote saving lives, even if they're tinier then a molecule.
If they didn't well, then, that's a sin for them [RELIGION] In the Ten Commandments, it states "Thou Shall Not Kill". Now if any Christian/Catholic knew that and respected that, then they would have saved the ant. [/RELIGION] If they're not Christian/Catholic, I can't tell them what they should do and not do. It's their belief.

 

[DramaQueen]

I would've killed it, I personally don't believe that bugs have rights hehe.
I am strongly anti-bug/

But good for you for sticking to your morals!!!
You did what felt right to you and that's a great thing.

 

[Babyjustrun]

I probably would have killed it.
Or left it alone. I don't touch bugs.
Not too long ago I was sitting in math and this girl who sits behind me found a lady bug on the wind sill. She was like freaking out like DON'T KILL IT BUT DON'T MAKE IT FLY. And then she ended up shoving it down the poor guy next to her's shirt.

 

[OneTreeHill]

I probably would have just set it down on the floor and left it.
I wouldn't have killed it myself, cause I hate killing things.

 

[ohdisco]

I HATE, HATE ANTS. I mean, I'm not a big fan of bugs in general (except rollipollies and ladybugs), but I absolutely HATE ants. Every person I know has had an ant problem, but here (in the bay area) we get it EVERY SUMMER. Same with my auntie. When you have hundreds of those things crawling in your KITCHEN, you stop thinking about their rights.

 

[XxCuriosityxX<3]

Well i would of probably just killed it or let it be.
The ant is going to die anyways, everything does.
But i just hate bugs.

I do think what you did was the right thing, tho.

 

[Disney Dork]

I believe that you are EXTREMLY brave for actually picking it up and doing what you did. *nods*

I'm terrified of any type of insect and spider (excluding butterflies and catepillars(sp?)), so if I see one anywhere near me I freak out. It doesn't matter how tiny it is, if it flies or crawls, or bites...they scare me. Therefore, I would of killed it....or yelled for someone else to come and kill it for me...yup.

 

[miniminniemouse]

well i LOVE animals even though i kill bugs! but i would just of let it go and wouldnt have worried about it, i mean there was a chance that it would not have been killed but even if you put it outside it might have been killed

 

[Pirate Me]

Bugs freak me out. I would never let them touch me, hehe. But I'd never hurt one..ever.
I feel so weird. It's alive. It moves. It has the right to live.
And killing them makes me feel SO strange!! I do freak out if there's a bug in my room or something. xD But I'd never ever kill it. My family thinks I'm weird when I put it on a napkin and run it outside.

 

[PrincessEeyore]

Shellybellypolo, I would have done the exact same thing! Every creature has the right to live and shouldn't be killed just because it may gross someone out or be smaller than humans. I understand why the teacher said no, my teachers would have done the same thing, but I praise you for keeping the little guy safe and brining him outside. I have a feeling if I brought the ant into my locker room, the girls would have freaked out and one of them may have killed him. Luckily, your ant didn't have that problem.
I've been named Ghandi on my field hockey team because I won't ever let the girls kill any buggies that cross their path. We (about 60 girls) spend two weeks in a field hockey camp at a a college campus so we stay in the dorms. Whenever anyone finds a buggie in their room, the call me down and I bring them to safety. I know it's strange to some people, but I just can't bring myself to kill another living creature that is just as significant and important as me. That's why I became a vegetarian.

Sorry I just kind of hyjacked your thread. But I just needed to explain why I totally agree with you.

 

[Ampris]

Speaking as a total Mrymecophobe, think what you did was great. If a bug or animal or whatever isn't causing you harm, if it's just going about it's buggy life unassuming and not hurting anything, then why take it's life for nothing? An ant deserves to live here just as much as anyone else does. I try to stay the heck away from them, but I wouldn't want to kill them just because they scared me. :[

 

[STOPxmickeytime]

I love ants. When I was younger, I made sure that no one in my family stepped on them. Then again, I'm talking about black ants.

Should you have been allowed to go outside? Probably not. If you were doing something important, then no. Class first. If you weren't doing anything, then maybe.

You did the right thing by not killing it. Reminds me of biology in the beginning of the year. My teacher found a bug in our lab (our classrooms are labs), and put a cup over it. After my class (lunch - for the entire school), she let it outside.

I probably would've let the bug continue on its merry way. It has places to go and things to do. I shouldn't be interrupting that cycle.

Agreed.
It was probably safer walking around on its own than getting "blown outside."

I think it's sorta wrong to kill them, but I also don't feel a moral obligation to stop and help a bug when I see it.

They're pretty resilient, they can make it on their own.

 

[disney100666]

I would've killed it or just left it alone. I really don't like bugs. It was nice of you not to kill it though. =)

 

[BabyPiglet]

I would have just ignored it. Unless it was huge, then I'd run away and make little shreaking noises.

 

[taz]

Honestly, I would have stepped on it.
Just the way I am​