Pro-Cicada Activities Burrow Into Little Rock Classrooms, Courtesy of PETA

For Immediate Release:
May 29, 2024

Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382

Little Rock, Ark. –

With cicadas out in full force, TeachKind—PETA’s humane education division—sent a letter to Little Rock School District Superintendent Jermall Wright asking him to prepare students headed into summer vacation to show compassion to these fascinating insects and refrain from harming them or interfering with their brief aboveground experience. To support such lessons, TeachKind sent its fun-filled “Crazy Cool Facts About Cicadas,” its cicada coloring sheet, and accompanying activities and discussion questions that encourage kids to identify with cicadas, who value their lives, feel pain and fear, and deserve tolerance and empathy—just as humans do.

*TeachKind’s cicada coloring sheet. Credit: PETA*

“Empathy can be cultivated, and children deserve to know that periodical cicadas are gentle insects who wait underground for over a decade only to experience one month of fresh air and sunlight,” says PETA Senior Director of Youth Programs Marta Holmberg. “TeachKind is encouraging Little Rock educators to send their students off on summer break with the message that everyone—including cicadas—deserves to be treated with kindness.”

TeachKind points out that these interesting insects can keep track of time, are able to figure out the temperature of the ground, and can produce sounds that can be heard from over a mile and a half away—even though they don’t have vocal cords. TeachKind strives to impart lifelong lessons of compassion and help students understand that every animal is a unique individual who deserves to live in peace, regardless of species or size.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. TeachKind offers free presentations, lessons, and other resources to help teachers add compassion to their curricula. For more information, please visit TeachKind.org or follow the group on Facebook or Instagram.