It's right to teach that hunting is wrong

I refer to Aldo E. Azzopardi's letter (January 11).

Thankfully, it is true that most school teachers are invariably against hunting. Whether they "brainwash" their pupils is another matter.

It is a well known fact that most modern teachers try to instil in their pupils a sense of the wrong and evil that is racism, and teach their pupils that it is wrong to treat members of other races differently simply on the basis of their race. Most modern rational people, parents included, would not see this as "brainwashing". On the contrary, they would expect and demand that such education be given to their children.

Now, it is to be expected that some hunters will see any teaching on the wrongness of hunting as "brainwashing". But this case is no different from the anti-racist teaching.

Similarly, all teachers should try to instil in their pupils a sense of the wrong that is hunting, and most modern rational people, parents included, would not see this as "brainwashing". On the contrary, they would expect and demand that such education be given to their children.

Of course, I would personally like pupils to be given a comprehensive education about the wrongness of speciesism and any and all speciesist practices. However, I acknowledge the fact that this is not possible as long as most people (teachers included) are speciesists themselves.

The only difference, apart from the fact that, contrary to Mr Azzopardi, I wish for progressive instead of reactionary education, is that instead of whining about the lack of holistic anti-speciesist education, I choose to do all that is in my power and ability to provide anti-speciesist education myself for any who are interested, particularly in my blog at www.animalrightsmalta.blogspot.com.

Mr Azzopardi could of course retort that public schools are paid for through our taxes, so hunters would have a "right" to demand that their tax money is not used to provide education in a direction that they do not support. However, a racist could similarly claim that he/she would not want his/her taxes to be used to provide anti-racist education. Does this mean that we should stop public schools from teaching pupils on the wrongness of racism? I think not.

Mr Azzopardi should, sooner rather than later, resign himself to the fact that tolerance of hunting will soon be just a sad chapter in our history books, and that if he does not change his "neanderthal mentality" on this issue, at least he should resign himself to the fact that democracies work through majority rule.

Regarding calling Maltese pupils "bootlickers", this insult does not even merit a reply.

As for Mr Azzopardi's belief that most pupils would fill in a questionnaire saying that they oppose hunting because they want to be in the teachers' good books, well, Mr Azzopardi's conclusion could in theory be true, unless of course the children do not have to sign their names on the questionnaire. In the latter case, it is truly no surprise that the results would show that the majority of pupils would still be against hunting. Perhaps the fact that we are now in the year 2008 CE (AD) and not 20,008 BCE (BC) is one of the major factors for such an encouraging result - one that would be predominantly against the wholly unnecessary killing of sentient birds.

With apologies to Neanderthals who, unlike "modern" hunters, most probably hunted out of necessity, and not for the perverse pleasure of killing the defenceless.