VegBlogger - a vegan / vegetarian blog

Teaching Kids to Have Empathy for Animals

Post written by VegBlogger. Follow me on Twitter.

The other day I posted about how researchers believe it is empathy that sets
vegetarians and vegans apart from omnivores (see post). So it got me thinking a lot  about empathy today. Beyond the textbook definition of it, what do experts think about it and is it something we can teach to our children? Or are we just somehow born with it?

I spent some time researching empathy and I came across this interesting piece. The article makes several points that I find of importance, including that empathy is "...regarded by many people as the foundation of moral behavior."

The article also discusses how people come to have empathy, and it turns out it is a combination of our experiences, what we see, and what we are taught, among other things. It is important to teach empathy to our children. There are ways we can go about doing this. Here are several I came up with:

• Model empathy. Every time my children see me relocate a spider outside of the house, rather than kill it, they have learned that even a spider has the right to life. They learn to see even the smallest of creatures with empathy. Every time they see me eat vegan food they learn I have made a conscious choice to not harm other animals.
• Talk about feelings that animals have. If a child asks why you don't just kill the bug, explain that it has feelings, will feel pain, may have babies somewhere, wants to live, should not pay with its life for being in the wrong place, etc.
• Discuss what they have in common with other animals. People find it easier to have empathy for humans because they can relate more to their pain or discomfort. Helping kids identify those things they have in common with other animals, such as pain, breathing, fear, families, hunger, etc., will help to make more of a connection.
• Use good books and videos to help them learn empathy through entertaining means. Most kids easily connect to such movies as Babe or Charlotte's Web. You can find a variety of these options all reviewed at VegBooks.org.
• Try role playing so that kids can see what another animal may feel like. Kids love to play games and if you are discussing the circus or a zoo, have kids pretend to be the animal in the cage or made to perform. This will give them an idea of what the situation may feel like. Older children can engage in writing that involves them creating stories about animals, their feelings and various situations
• Help them connect to animals as often as possible so that they learn they have personalities, are fun, interesting, etc. You can do this by visiting sanctuaries, family farms, humane societies, or the animals down the road.

Children who learn empathy for animals will also have empathy toward other humans. Children who learn empathy will become adults who have empathy. We must strive to make teaching empathy to our children a high priority so that the moral foundation is in place.

(pictured: my son petting a horse at a sanctuary)

Empathy Sets Vegetarians and Vegans Apart From Omnivores

Post written by VegBlogger. Follow me on Twitter.

According to the dictionary, empathy is:

"the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another..."

What separates vegetarians and vegans from omnivores, for the most part, is
empathy. New research that came out last month monitored brain functioning of a group of vegetarians, vegans and omnivores, while being showed pictures of human and animal suffering.

The results show that vegetarians and vegans think differently. For real. The brain showed different areas being used while looking at the various images. Vegetarians and vegans used different parts of their brain while viewing the suffering.

What the research demonstrated is that omnivores showed more response to human-only suffering images, while vegetarians showed concern for both human and animal suffering, while vegans tended to show more emotional concern for animal suffering.

So what I've thought for years has been confirmed with this study... my brain functions differently than 97 percent of the American population. And if it means that it is because I have empathy toward human and animal suffering, than it's good news to me.

You can view the entire study here. Here's an article about it on Psychology Today.

 

Are you a registered organ donor? You should be!

Post written by VegBlogger. Follow me on Twitter.

Did you know that each day 19 people needlessly die waiting for an organ transplant? Did you realize that because we are so short on human organ donors that researchers are busy trying to find ways to harvest organs from pigs to give to humans?

If you are not a registered organ donor you really should be. Especially if you are willing to take an organ if you needed one to stay alive (or to keep your child alive).

But even looking at this from an animal rights perspective, being an organ donor saves animals. If there are enough humans who are willing to be organ donors they will no longer look to pigs and other animals for it.

Did you know that one organ donor can save lives? And isn't that what us ethical veg*ns are all about? So being an organ donor saves human lives, as well as the lives of other animal species.

April is Donate Life Month. Become an organ donor today, if you aren't already one. Log onto OrganDonor.gov for more information and to get registered! If you live outside the U.S., do a quick search to find out how you get registered in your country.