Horrified parents have slammed a primary school in England over a child murder scene that featured a bloody mannequin that was apparently bludgeoned to death by a crowbar. Ramridge Primary School set up the grisly murder scene for its students in a bid to teach them about fingerprints.
The controversial activity was part of the school's Science Week, with pupils between 10 and 11 years old participating in the lesson. The activity went viral after school staff shared photos from the made-up crime scene on the social media platform Facebook.
Among the graphic pictures shared on the school's social media page was that of a child-sized mannequin wearing a grey school dress slumped over a table with fake blood surrounding her. Police tape had already been set up around the scene of the crime, with an abandoned crowbar placed on the table where the mannequin's head rests.
School shares photos of "terrible crime scene" on Facebook
The crowbar was intentionally placed there for students to dust for fingerprints. In another set of photos, the child-sized mannequin can be seen this time around sprawled face down on the floor, with yet another crowbar and what appears to be a mobile phone placed next to the lifeless body.
The school boasted about it, saying it was "another terrible crime scene" for their unsuspecting students to investigate. The primary school's crime scene activity was created by an outside company run by a former police detective, who said they had never received any complaints about their sessions before.
Simon Smith, the owner and managing director of Zakon Training, said that he has been running the company for six years now and parents have never complained about his courses during that period. Smith said they have been in several hundred schools, and this is the first time he has heard of such a thing as parents being upset with their courses.
The company insists children do not find its crime scenes scary
Smith reiterated that they are using dummies and fake blood in their courses, and the school has not raised this issue at all to them. Smith added that crime and punishment sit within the school's curriculum, and that is why Ramridge Primary School acquired their services to set up this stunt.
Smith made it clear that if the schools they serviced had any concerns about this particular crime scene, the company would run a different one that features no body and blood. Smith added that the children who participated in their lessons "have never given an inkling that they find it intimidating or scary."
The issue shows no signs of stopping with irate parents flooding the school's post with angry comments about their murder scene activity. Echo Allen wrote that she would not want her "young children seeing life-like scenes of squashed and mangled bodies." Rachel Kelly echoed her sentiment, noting, "Who even comes up with stuff like this for primary school kids?!"
