I would hope it could be addressed without their notice. Can you trap them and move them to a more remote area? Not all of the kids' families would share a unanimous view about this topic, so it is probably most appropriate to leave it unbroached at school.

...Nobody wants to put a few on the grill? (Gopher, Everett?)

Moving them to a different area means that they will die for one of several reasons:
- competition w/ local critters
- unfamiliar w/ territory and unable to locate food

...so your suggestion is...?

Trapping and relocating rodents is actually illegal in most locations.

I'm not sure why the students or their parents should have a vote about how the gopher situation is handled. I'm sure that using poisons or harpoon traps would be considered unsafe around kids, but you could investigate some of the repellants on the market.

Another option would be to trap the gophers and take them elsewhere to dispatch them. No one would have to know about it.

I'm all about REALITY. So, teach the kids what tending a garden is "really." And, in the REAL world, we try to eliminate or reduce the amount of damage done by "pests."

Are you teaching them about gardening and all the "issues" (weather, pests, feeding, etc.) that come along in the real world or are you just trying to teach them to grow the PERFECT head of lettuce in a very IMPERFECT world?

It's either that, or next year... you can have a class on CONSTRUCTING a garden that's gopher proof. ;)

Good luck though. I don't envy a teacher's job just because of issues that may come along like yours. It would drive me mad trying to please EVERYBODY. :)

Kevin

This post was edited by woohooman on Sat, Jun 8, 13 at 14:01

My view is similar to woohooman's. I believe if you are teaching a kid that a snail is a pest in a garden, and to remove it, then where do we draw the line on what pests are ok to eliminate? I am a public school worker, and had an incident recently, where a few staff and a few kids were out at the garden, flooding the holes, and up popped a small gopher, and before we knew it, a student took a shovel and wacked it. There was no big deal made of it, just scooped him up and buried him appropriately, and went on tending to other jobs. The problem came when a psychologist and administration learned that it happened, then myself and the other staff member, were disciplined for allowing it to happen. They argue that no animals should be killed in the presence to students because they could potentially repeat the behavior outside of a school setting. My argument is looking at it from a contextual basis. It happened in a garden setting, where we have lost countless plants to gophers. They are pest and should be treated like any other pest. Thanks for the responses to this. I appreciate them.

This is an interesting post, and pretty pertinent to today's society where the closest many have ever come to the realities of food production is the neatly wrapped tub of meat in a market isle with a label on it. It's an almost Victorian attitude where anything unpleasant has a euphemistic spin.

I'm a retired school teacher who had a garden behind the school. In today's climate with parents blaming the school for everything, I would not kill the animal in front of the kids. You can trap it and dispose of it or have a parent do it. There is plenty of time for kids to grow up and make their own decisions about how to deal with a garden pest. They will probably come to Gardenweb forums and find out. My advice is don't start trouble where kids are concerned. Stick to learning about plants and animals and soil.

Probably very good advice.

Are these children so isolated from the world that they are not aware that Squirrels, Opossums, Skunks, Rabbits, Dogs, Cats, Raccoons, Gophers, etc. are not killed by cars and buses on the roadways? Do none of the parents have gardens where they kill unwanted animals?
Children are much more aware of the world they live in then many adults want to give them credit for. I would not be very surprised to learn that many people on these forums are unaware that 8 year olds are sexually active.

We know this kimmsr, but to actually kill an animal in front of a child is asking for trouble from the school board, parents, and administration. Teachers are held to a higher power than the general public.