26,000 Schools Get Free Kit To Combat Bullying and Animal Abuse

Rampant Reports of Cruelty Prompt PETA to Distribute ‘Share the World’ Resource, Which Teaches Children Empathy and Kindness

For Immediate Release:
September 6, 2016

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

Amid a national youth epidemic of bullying and abuse of fellow humans as well as animals, one of the most important lessons a teacher can give is kindness, which is why TeachKind—PETA’s humane-education division—has completely revamped its popular classroom resource, the Share the World curriculum kit, and is sending free copies to 26,000 elementary schools nationwide. Whether it’s empowering students by teaching them about kind choices that they can make every day to help animals or highlighting animals’ “superpowers”—such as an octopus’s ability to change color as a means of communication—Share the World is packed with kid-friendly ways to follow the Golden Rule by showing kindness and respect for all living beings.

“When young children learn kindness to animals, they take a key step toward rejecting violence, bullying, and hatred in their teens and beyond,” says PETA Senior Director of Youth Outreach and Campaigns Marta Holmberg. “TeachKind’s Share the World curriculum kit helps educators easily and effectively empower students to make choices that will benefit animals, the environment, and fellow humans.”

TeachKind—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—receives countless reports each year about children and teens who have committed acts of violence against animals. Just this year, according to reports, two young girls in Virginia threw a Yorkshire terrier off a second-floor balcony, a 10-year-old boy in Tennessee stabbed a puppy in the face, a 4-year-old in Kansas flushed a kitten down a toilet, a 4-year-old and a 6-year-old in Virginia beat a dog with a plastic bat, and two children in Maryland tried to kill two kittens by drowning and throwing them against a dumpster. Share the World aims to stamp out this abuse by teaching empathy and helping students grow up to be kind, productive members of society.

Share the World is an all-inclusive program that comes with a 23-minute DVD, colorful classroom posters, a teacher’s guide, worksheets and activities, and a kindness pledge for students. The free kit is available in English and Spanish and can be used to help meet Common Core standards in education.

For more information, please visit ShareTheWorld.org.