"Krone" commentary

So what distinguishes the ox from the bull?

Susanne Wiesinger is a teacher at a hotspot school in Vienna-Favoriten and an author.(Bild: stock.adobe.com, Krone KREATIV)

Finding a suitable book for fourth graders is becoming increasingly difficult. Children who are used to series and Tik-Tok videos quickly become bored. Especially if they don't understand enough German to follow the content of a young adult book. Nevertheless, we teachers keep at it and, lo and behold, our latest book is well received.

Also because our explanations often lead to interesting conversations. Nobody in the class was familiar with the word ox. Fortunately, I asked about it. After all, the animal plays a central role in several chapters. The pupils were familiar with cows and bulls.

So what is the difference between an ox and a bull? When I explained the term castration, everyone was wide awake at once. Firstly, many of our fourth graders are one to two years older, so they are already in puberty. Secondly, school is the only place where they are allowed to talk openly about genitals and sexuality. In most families, this is taboo. They were therefore very interested in the subject. I tried to reassure them: Male animals are castrated under anesthesia these days. The boys were still outraged. In the end, however, Mehmet's argument prevailed: "It's better to work without eggs than to be slaughtered". However, Emilija had another question during the break: "Is there actually such a thing as female oxen?"

We will be addressing this topic tomorrow.