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What do you think: Is it OK for kids to capture fireflies and bugs to learn about nature?
When I was a kid I'd spend summer nights collecting fireflies. I wasn't interested in killing them--just capturing them and watching them flash in the jar. But is it OK to go firefly hunting? Or are we hurting the firefly population and teaching kids the wrong idea about ways to interact with nature? Should we all give up on our firefly lanterns?
The question is inspired by a heated conversation over at the Guardian about whether or not kids should use butterfly nets.
I'll call some entomologists to see what they think--but in the meantime, I'd love to hear from you.
Photo credit: Flickr user Jamelah.
I am a student in year 7 and I strongly belive that children can not learn without getting out there and exploring. Children are curious, so let them explore and learn about things of nature, after all in 40-50 years it going to be theres too look after by themelf. There won't be people to tell them that what to do because with there peers the will be look after the world. We can't baby our generation of children, its all about them learning geting stung by a bee and then learning not to disturbe them again. About learning that when you fall over you have to get back up, rub the dirt of your knees and keep pushing on! Let you kids learn by themself!
As a kid, I (as well as everyone I know) caught hundreds if not thousands of fireflies. We call them lightning bugs in the midwest. We made homemade flashlights, we smeared them against the sidewalk and did hundreds of other strange things that only kids would do. Guess what...I am not a psycho killer and there are still lots of lightning bugs every summer. I let my kids do what they want with lightning bugs, as well as ants, rolly-pollies, caterpillars, butterflies, moths and other bugs that don't sting or bite. The bugs out number us folks and whatever a couple of curious kids may do during playtime will not impact their population. The plastic drink container that is made in China on the other hand probably does more lasting damage than we even realize. Fight the good fight where it matters and don't waste time on trivial nonsense.
Capture a few gently and let them go.
I captured fireflies at a kid and let them go inside our unfinished cabin....they escaped and all seemed fine.
I gathered frogs in a paper bag down the beach from the cabin and immediately let them go at the water's edge in the secluded bay. Watching them was my afternoon's entertainment.
hmmmm....
while i think that child's play that involves sadism (alas, that phenomenon is not uncommon in child's play) should be deterred, i don't see any harm in jarring up a few fireflies to see what they're like.
it could be a good opportunity to sate some curiosity about bugs and nature in general - to really get a good close up and examined view.
also, i think it would be a good opportunity to talk about the value of life and that we can and should be responsible and not harm things unnecessarily.
i mean just elaborating on that last - pest bugs vs non pest bugs, the circle of life, yadda yadda... that's a lot of fodder there.
and the kids should be guided into releasing the bugs (hopefully not in their bedrooms) after they're done and before they starve, etc.
pinning up butterflies... that seems rather unnecessarily morbid actually so that's not something i would defend. but especially if care is taken so as not to harm, i think this particular activity is fine.
How can we possibly learn about the world around us if aren't curious? And how can we sate that curiosity if we don't catch a few bugs, snails, worms, and frogs and look at them more closely?
I used to chase fireflies as a kid, catch them by cupping them in my hands, and then watch with excitement as they would light up and fly away.
No harm to the firefly, and I learned a valuable lesson in how treat other things in nature with gentle respect as I explored the world around me (and yes, that includes other human beings, too).
