IT is wonderful that Joan Adams involves her pupils in conservation activities. However, I do hope that she does not adopt the highly didactic tone with them that she demonstrates in her letter, Sad to see pleasure being taken in killing, Letters, October 5.

As a teacher, Joan should be aware of her responsibility to explain all sides of an issue to her charges so that they can learn to think for themselves and make up their own minds.

She says that country sports destroy the balance in nature, however, animals such as foxes and deer have had their natural predators removed and country sports actually help maintain the balance and thus benefit bio-diversity. She might also want to inform her pupils of the immense contribution to conservation work in this country that is down to field sports.

Shooting alone is involved in the management of two-thirds of our land area, and contributes an estimated 2.6 million full days of conservation work.

Of course, Joan should explain the moral scruples that some people have for sports that involve killing animals.

However, perhaps she should also mention that these sports often enhance their quarry species.

A very good example would be the Staghounds' management of the red deer of Exmoor and the Quantocks, as opposed to poachers who kill not as a sport but for money from heads and antlers, thus producing a damaging imbalance between stags and hinds.

Giles Bradshaw

Rose Ash, South Molton