VegBlogger - a vegan / vegetarian blog

When teachers have a vegetarian student and "get it"

Some teachers get it, and some don't. I'm talking about having a vegetarian student in their classroom. Last year my son's teacher didn't really get it and I can't say she made much of an effort to ever understand it. But this year, boy have we gotten lucky. His teacher this year has been fabulous. She so "gets it" that I wish she could move up to the next grade at the end of this one so she can remain his teacher next year, too!

There have been many things that have happened so far this year that let me know she gets it. First of all, she told me right from the start that she understood it. She has a vegan friend and so it's not all unfamiliar to her. She has been wonderful about looking out for ingredients in snacks and things that they are doing in the classroom. At Thanksgiving she had my son share with the class what he eats for his holiday meal since he is a vegetarian. She wanted the other kids to realize that people are different and celebrate differently. Around the holidays they also did a "how to cook a turkey" writing assignment, but she changed his to "how to make mashed potatoes," because he said that's what he likes in his holiday meal.

Today she did it again! This week at school they are celebrating Dr. Seuss week. So the first grade classes were going to be cooking green eggs and ham (cooking it in the classroom as part of the lesson). She told me that her class would not be participating in this. She said she thought about it and came to the conclusion that it would make my son uncomfortable to sit in the classroom with eggs and ham cooking. She said he would be subjected to the smells, watching it cook, kids talking about it and eating it after it cooked, etc. So she skipped that part of the Dr. Seuss lesson. I hugged her after she told me that!

This teacher gets it! Oh how I wish more did. It may be hit or miss in the coming years, but I'm sure loving him having her as his teacher this year. Two thumbs way up for those teachers who try to get the fact that they have a vegetarian or vegan child in their classroom. From veg parents eveywhere, we thank you!

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." - Dr. Seuss

 

Bahamas Visit - Dead Sea Stars (cushioned sea star) and Queen Conch Shells

Last month we took a cruise and had a stop off at Nassau in the Bahamas. As we walked around (after dining at Senior Frogs), I noticed that there were people selling sea stars and conch shells. This isn't the first time that I've seen it, or the first time that it saddened me.

The sea stars that they were selling (pictured) are called "cushioned sea stars." They harvest them right there, as they can easily see them right at the bottom of the beautiful clear water. They take them out of the water and lay them out to dry, which kills them. I can't  help but to imagine what it must feel like to be plucked out of the water and left in the sun to dry to one's death. Seems like it would be a rough way to die. Anyway, from the research that I have done online, the cushioned sea star has been over-harvested and the numbers are dwindling (here and here). 

People kill these creatures simply to take them home as a keepsake or souvenir from the Bahamas. How sad is that? These are living, feeling creatures, that lose their lives so that tourists can take one home to look at. What a shame.

The queen conchs are also available for tourists to purchase and take home. The one difference here is that people eat the conchs (fritters, and other ways). So some may find it to be more accepting. Personally I still find it revolting and sad. Furthermore, queen conchs have been severely over harvested and the numbers have reached alarmingly low levels.

As a tourist, aim to take home a souvenir that didn't cause an animal to lose its life. Just because we can take a life sure doesn't mean we should. We should want to live in a world where we exercise compassion, and that also includes towards things like the cushioned sea star and the queen conch. All living creatures want life. Could you imagine if people, or dogs, or cats, were treated in such a manner?

Here are some pictures I took while in Nassau, Bahamas:

Happiness by Matthieu Ricard - Compassion for all beings

Yesterday I finished reading the book titled "A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill: Happiness" by Matthieu Ricard. I really enjoyed reading the book and found it quite insightful. It is well written and there are even some reflective exercises at the end of each chapter, so that you can put into practice what it is that you are learning about.

The covers a variety of topics, including if happiness is possible, what makes people happy, ego, emotions, our thoughts, desire, hatred, envy, etc. There was also a lot of discussion about the virtues of having compassion, something that I have been trying to cultivate in my children since birth. The book also discusses having compassion toward sentient beings. There was one paragraph that struck a chord with me that I wanted to share here, and it reads: 

"...it is essential to understand at the  most fundamental level that all living creatures share our desire to avoid suffering and experience well-being. That understanding cannot remain a mere concept but must be internalized until it has become second nature. Ultimately, when our sense of belonging extends to all living beings, we are intimately touched by their joys and sufferings."

Becoming second nature... for me, and for many other people who support and raise awareness about animal rights, it is second nature. My notion of having compassion for all animals is automatic, it is part of who I am. It is not something that I have to think about or try to remind myself of that. It is ingrained in the fibers of my very being.

One of my close friends, who I met about five years ago, got to know my views on having compassion for animals. She told me that she thought it was a "gift from God." Whether my sense of compassion for all living creatures is a gift from God, or it is something that we teach our children, it is important that we all learn it in order to experience true happiness, and help to spread happiness throughout the world.