It’s not just children, some of us grandpas do it.
I could never do something like that to ants, but I have no mercy on those Asian Beetles, but a magnifying glass is too slow.
Flame thrower?
Ants help keep the San Jose area’s 2 x 4 eating termites under control, so I go out of my way to protect them. Last month I harvested a bucket of cactus tuna’s (fruit) for making jam, and in the process inadvertently brought a dozen ants into the kitchen along w/the fruit. I surrounded & captured them, sort of like I was herding cattle … lol … then put them back outside.
At summer school one year I lived in a mobile home so parked outside. I must have parked on an anthill or something 'cause one morning I got in my car and I had ants crawling all over the driver’s floor and up my leg. I don’t like ants but still I wouldn’t torture them. I’d step on them for a quick death. I tried eating one once and they are terrible. Maybe it should have been cooked. Good luck with your jam.