Teaching Animal Rights at School

Why Animal Rights at schools?

The widespread violence in our society is a source of concern for the Israeli public, and for the Israeli education system in particular. Cruelty toward animals is a form of violence that is not uncommon among youth and children, and educating against it is of great importance. This importance becomes clearer when thinking about the close link between animal abuse and violence towards other human beings: cruelty to animals goes hand in hand with cruelty to people, and reducing one will reduce the other.

 

Caring for animals is one the most evident characteristics of a solid value system. It involves helping a fellow creature that cannot express gratitude or pay back the favor. Acting for the welfare of animals develops in young people sensitivity and independent thought, because they have to cope with behaviors that few people stop to think about, and fewer still take action against.

Despite the general consensus against animal abuse, there is a lot of ambiguity as to what animal abuse is and who the abusers are. Anonymous wishes to look deeply – together with the pupils – into these subjects, and to suggest to these young people ways to help animals.

What we offer

In order to promote protection of animals in Israel and following the many requests we have received, we started to give lectures in schools, youth movements, army units etc. We have been doing it for several years now, and in 2009 alone we offered 78 lectures to a total of 12,700 young people. In these lectures we wish to encourage regarding animals as fellow creatures whose needs must be considered, and who are not mere tools for the use of man. The framework of the lectures is fixed, but we adapt the content and style of the lecture to the age and cultural background of the audience. Each lecture is designed to be joint learning of the lecturer and the pupils about our attitude towards animals, and an attempt to think together and find practical solutions in order to create a better world for all of us.

The lectures are coordinated by Ariel Tsovel, a qualified teacher who studies the relations between humans and animals in Tel Aviv University. The team of lecturers is small and select and comprises of veteran Anonymous activists who acquired a lot of experience in talking to groups of young people and other audiences. We offer an introductory lecture that can be held in front of large groups – from a single class to whole age groups. The lectures are free of charge except for travel expenses, which are to be paid by the school. The school can order a series of lectures, or lectures that are tailored to specific curricular subjects. We can also provide the school with information stalls in events like Green Day. In case the students show special interest, we will be glad to assist them in writing assays on the subject, producing a newspaper, organizing events dedicated to animal rights etc.

The introductory lecture

What are animal rights? Is cruelty to animals rare? How can we help the animals?
The lecture is intended to answer these questions methodically, with the aid of slides of text and photos, and with the participation of the audience. The recommended duration of the lecture is two academic hours (90 minutes), but we also have a shorter version (45 minutes). The technical aids we need are: a projector connected to a laptop, or a slide projector or a VCR.

Here are the main questions that are raised in the lecture:

What are animal rights?
When talking about animal rights we usually mean rights that stem from their ability to feel pain and to suffer. Animals suffer when they are hurt, neglected, or denied their need to a varied environment, activity, companionship and family. These rights are regarded as moral rights. Some of these rights have been recognized by Israeli law, as well as by many other countries.

Is cruelty to animals rare?
Cruelty to animal is regarded in our society as a crime, but most of the cruelty happens away from the public eye, and on many occasions with financial support from the public. These day to day events that only few people are aware of are not regarded as cruelty - until they are exposed in broad daylight. This happened in the case of circus animals, chicken in battery cages, snatching animals from the wild etc.

How can we help the animals?
Knowing the facts about cruelty to animals and exposing such cases to the public is an essential first step. Only when the facts are known can actions take place. Following the actions, public pressure builds up, starting with a consumer boycott – many people stopped buying cosmetics that were tried on animals, and many people choose to buy free range eggs. Along with the boycott a pressure is applied on the authorities to enforce the existing laws or to change them. Most often than not the exposure and the public pressure were initiated by high school students, who brought on impressive results. The ban on force feeding of geese, for example, is mainly the result of such activity. Achievements like these frequently start with seemingly humble activities among friends or in the child's neighborhood.

Our lecture program is quite extensive, yet very effective in making children and teenagers reconsider their views on animal rights and what they can do to help them.
To keep it going at that rate, and to be able to further extend it, we need your support.