Everybody knows my dad loves to hunt. I grew up eating venison and elk. And I loved it. Even though my dad hunted he always taught me to respect animals. When I was young we had horses, cows, goats and chickens that we helped care for. He never killed an animal for sport or fun. We always ate whatever he brought home from his hunting trips.
For Christmas Alexander wanted an air soft rifle. That was all he wanted. Nothing else. Alex is an extremely responsible kid. He gets good grades, does chores, babysits and is a big help around the house. So we bought him the rifle and Christmas morning Ian took him outside and showed him how to use it.
Yesterday my mom called me and asked, "Did you know Alexander is outside shooting at birds with his rifle?" Maybe some of you think this is a normal boy activity or you might think that something like this is bound to happen when you buy a boy a gun. I was horrified. I never for one second thought he would shoot at anything other than rocks and tin cans and other things Ian told him it was safe to shoot at.
Xander came home 5 minutes later and I calmly asked him if he'd been outside shooting at birds. Boy, the look on his face. Guilt. He KNEW it was wrong. He admitted that he had been shooting at birds. As mad as I was at him, I was happy he told me the truth. I immediately confiscated his gun and bullets and told him how disappointed I was.
So today Xander and I are going to sit down today and discuss his punishment.
Any thoughts?
9 comments:
That's a hard one! Andy got one too, luckily I haven't found him shooting anything other than army men & tin cans, yet...
Ooh, when I pulled up to mom's yesterday I saw Dallin and Alex outside with the gun and I told them that they had better NOT shoot any birds. They both looked at me and said "Of course not". They said they were just shooting rocks and stuff. Those stinkers.
I'm usually all about letting the punishment fit the crime. But this is a tough one. Somehow just taking the gun away doesn't seem like enough. But, he didn't lie to you when you asked him about it. That's a good sign. I don't know. I'm no help. Sorry.
Do you have a pet? If so, have him take care of that for a time...I don't know...
I agree with the last comment that somehow you should connect the punishment with kindness to animals. But I really have no idea??
I say find a dead bird (or just use a cornish game hen) and cook it for dinner for him - it's OK to kill the animal if you eat it, right?
Let us know what you decide. I'm looking for tips for when Jack is older.
Ask him how he would feel if a giant bird (like Big Bird) shot him with a pellet gun for fun. The guilt he will feel should be punishment enough in itself.
IF you want to inflict "pet" related punishment, you could send him to my house to scoop poop in the backyard from our dog... I promise, there is plenty to make him twice about his actions!
It's spring break; you could try to find some kind of animal shelter or park ranger station to take him to. He's probably too young to volunteer, but they could talk to him about the animals and their role in the ecosystem?
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