how do you explain to children......

[meganmog]

why their friends eat meat?? my kids (age 6,4,22mth) have been veggie from birth, and cannot understand why anyone would want to eat dead animals.... how do i explain it without making their friends, and their dad for that matter, sound really evil?

They are very happy being veggie, and are not even tempted to eat sweets etc if they know they are not vegetarian. But they do have a tendancy to point out to their non-veggie friends exactly what their meat is and how disgusting it is!! which I can't help but agree with - but I know that other parents will think I'm indoctrinating them!

how have other people dealt with this one?

[SunnyMellowMan]

Well, I'm not a parent seeing as how I'm a 17 year old gay male, but...I plan on adopting and raising those children vegetarian. I don't even know how I'd deal with something like that.
Have you tried to tell your children about how to peacefully interact with meat-eaters? Omni parents are unrelenting when it comes to their children being told by "hippies" that meat is wrong etc.
You *could* explain to them that some people think differently about the way animals should be treated? I'm really unsure.

Good luck to you,
Jay

:vebo:

[Charlottejane]

Great question!


You *could* explain to them that some people think differently about the way animals should be treated? Jay, I think what you said here is really good.

I'm personally going through something similar. I have 2 boys who are 5 and 3 and my 5 year old is asking some big questions and is certainly the minority in his class at school. We have only been vegetarian for just over a year so it's probably even tougher as we used to be "one of them"!

I have been going along the lines of explaining that some people think differently than us, but that we have thought really long and hard about what we believe is right and made our decision based on that. I try not to speak badly of others, I just suggest that perhaps they haven't really thought about what they eat or maybe they have thought about it and they are ok with eating animals whereas we are not.

I will be watching this thread closely for suggestions from others!

[counting_hours]

I am actually not a parent, but when I worked as a nanny, I took care of a 3 year old boy, and a 15 month old girl. Obviously the 15 month old did not notice that we ate differently (I was not 100% veg, but I didn't eat meat if that makes sense...) However, Tyler (3 year old)did, as I was prettymuch the primary caregiver at the time for about 4 months. His parents were basically carnivores, and the kids also ate meat. When he asked me about it, partially because he was not my child I was unsure of what I could say without upsetting his parents. Eventually I settled for a simple "Everyone is different, and sometimes people do things that are not the same as you, and because you are nice, and they are your friends,it is good to be nice about it. It makes things pretty interesting to be friends with so many different people!"At 3, that satisfied him.
That being said, if I was explaining dietary differences to my own child I would probably go with a different approach. Maybe something like :

"Sometimes our friends and family do things that we don't do, like eating animals. I know that eating animals isn't something we think is nice, but not all people who eat them are mean, it just means that they feel different than us about it. Even if it makes us mad, we should love them anyway. If (*insert family member,friend,sibling, pet, yourself, someone they adore*) did something that wasn't good or you didn't like, you would love them anyway, right?.I know if you did something not nice even by accident I would still always love you."

And then, I would ask if they had any questions or anything. I mean, it really depends on what stage my kids are at developmentally, emotionally, and in their comprehension. This would probably be something I would say when they first comprehended that animals are the "meat" that they see being eaten sometimes, and that some people they love eat animals.Honestly, I think people are best able to judge their own kids and how to interact with them.

[meganmog]

thanks guys,

I think those are the kind of lines i have been going along. I think my kids just really find it hard to understand why someone would want to eat animals. I mean they do accept everyones differences, but they just don't get it.
I think the "you can like/love someone but not like something that they do" is a good angle actually, as they know i always love them even when i don't like their behaviour.

I was quite suprised that out of a school of 50ish children my dtr was the only veggie! I thought there were more of us these days!! At least she will have her brother joining her in sept!

Thanks again

[Bells]

I was quite suprised that out of a school of 50ish children my dtr was the only veggie! I thought there were more of us these days!! At least she will have her brother joining her in sept!

Thanks again

I'm not surprised, really. Out of a thousand students in my school, I only know of one other veg*n, and I am not sure she actually is one.

Anyway, good luck with your children! That would be hard to explain to a young one.

[Harrifer]

Tell them that for generations people have grown up eating meat because it was very difficult not to, and nobody really thought about it. Now it is quite easy not to, people are starting to change, nut it is taking time.

[Porffor]

I haven't had this as was veggie before I had my DD and am Omni when the girls came along.. it's only now coming to play but my eldest (9) is questioning whether she should become veggie, she is very much an animal lover.

BUT we have had similar situations about things from religion to education (we home educated for a while as she was having problems at school some years back). Even xmas day comes into play sometimes.
We have always explained that some people believe and follow certain things, some don't.. so some celebrate xmas just for xmas, some celebrate it as they believe in Christ and christianity, some don't celebrate at all and it's 'just another day'. Some believe in fairies/unicorns etc, some don't, some celebrate other days special to them, summer solstice, halloween, other festivals.

This applies to meat I guess and could be used as a 'for instance'. I've managed to instill tolerance into our DD's that they know people are different and respect them for that, but that we live our life a certain way. :) Things like respecting nature etc are 2nd nature to us, they know not to pick flowers etc, but other children don't understand this sometimes and have quizzed them on it. My youngest will actually hug and kiss tree's. I don't see a problem with this but some people look at her very strange in parks from time to time! :lol:

Sorry to ramble.. :sealed:

[Mr. Sun]

Children are so great too because they often say what's on their minds and so aren't afraid to speak the truth in a non-politically correct way. That can be awkward at times. lol.

[Jeremy]

Children are so great too because they often say what's on their minds and so aren't afraid to speak the truth in a non-politically correct way. That can be awkward at times. lol.

Ain't that the truth? We had a 5 year-old yell out in the meat department of the grocery store in disgust "They murder animals here!!!" in a rather loud freaked out voice. People's jaws dropped as they stared at us :)

[Porffor]

Ain't that the truth? We had a 5 year-old yell out in the meat department of the grocery store in disgust "They murder animals here!!!" in a rather loud freaked out voice. People's jaws dropped as they stared at us :)

Now THAT is funny! :lol::lol::lol::lol: I thought my toilet embarrassing comment from my daughter was embarrassing/funny but you definately win hands down!! lol

[Charlottejane]

:lol:That's a great story!

A friend of my son's (aged 5) told his parents at the dinner table the other night over his plate of chops that my son had informed him that "meat comes from ANIMALS!!!". Apparently he was horrified... how cool!? His parents told him not to think about it :furious:

[Porffor]

blimey.. stick your sons head in the sand! Fingers x'd he makes his own mind up later in life!