ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — PETA is pushing for empathy lessons in St. Johns County schools following an incident where students hung up a dead shark in the rafters at Ponte Vedra High School on May 5.
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The organization sent out a letter to St. Johns County School District with the intent of providing the district with a K-12 kindness-to-animals curriculum, as well as “Empathy Now,” which is a guide to prevent youth from committing violence against animals.
“Compassion and empathy can be learned, and TeachKind is on standby to help schools teach young people that everyone deserves respect, whether a shark or a student,” said Marta Holmberg, PETA’s Senior Director of Youth Programs.
The curriculum would be a part of PETA’s “TeachKind” humane education division and would offer free, empathy-building virtual presentations.
Action News Jax has reached out to SJCSD for a response and we are waiting to hear back.
To learn more about TeachKind, click here.