It's terrible that they are chained up there!

Taking account of the needs and wellbeing of the animals in the zoo is a theme that keeps coming up in the conversations between the teachers and the students at the summer camp. However, critical thoughts about the current conditions are not often expressed in children’s and adults’ speech.

It is playing time after lunch, and I am having a conversation with a primary school-aged camper about parrots that we went to see earlier that day. I ask them what they think about birds living in netted enclosures. The child answers in an emotionally charged way: “It’s terrible that they are chained up there!” I am surprised by the intensity of the answer because similar feelings or thoughts have not been brought up earlier during the camp. As contradictions surface, the atmosphere of excitement, astonishment and interest evoked by the zoo momentarily gets darker shades.