PETA's action creates havoc at elementary school

The first call came shortly after 11 a.m. one day last week. Protesters were on their way to the Fulton Elementary School in Hempstead. That call, and a second one a short time later, came from reporters who had received news releases from the animal rights advocacy group PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The news sent the school district scrambling to the Internet for information. And later, after seeing the news release, they found out more. "There was my school's name, my school's address and my school's exact dismissal time," Regina Armstrong-Robinson, the school's principal, said yesterday, "and I'm asking myself who are these people and why are they coming here?" PETA's intention was to let children know that circuses are cruel to animals. No doubt, the protest was timed to coincide with the coming of the Ringling Bros. Circus, which is slated to open this week at Nassau Coliseum in the neighboring community of Uniondale. Some parents and children stopped to take buttons or an activity book protesters handed out, which, on one page, asks kids to color an elephant wearing "circus chains." "The material is disturbing and inappropriate for small children, who are visual learners," said Rodney Gilmore, the district's interim assistant superintendent. "Kids love the idea of a circus. This would be upsetting to them."...Newsday