Ethical question?!
Ethical question?
My boyfriend of a 1 1/2 years and I got into a fight the other day about whether or not it's ethical to raise children as vegetarians...Being a vegetarian, I said it was absolutely ethical to raise children that way b/c they can get all the nutrients they need from other food sources...He argued that he didn't think it was fair to make decisions such as that for your children and said that his children would not be raised vegetarian...Any input?
Answers:
This question boggles my mind. People choose to raise their children as different religions and no one minds. People feed their children straight up garbage and no one says a word, but when someone chooses to raise their children on a diet that is A. nutritionally adequate and B. compassionate, people freak. Personally, and I know you don't want to hear this, but it's time to find a new boyfriend if he wont budge on this one.
My last blog entry kind of touches on this topic, the link is below if you would like to take a look.
Source(s):
Vegan
http://askavegan.blogspot.com
explain to them your ideas, at the right age of course. In time they will choose what they like and dislike. that's just a fact of life... but you should let them at least try it, and let them decide!!!
Just like any other life CHOICE (religion included) I think that vegetarianism is not something that should be forced.
It is something that when your kids are old enough to make educated choices about, that they should have the RIGHT to decide for themselves what and how they might want to eat.
Assuming you two did get married, I doubt it would kill you to cook meals containing meat, and you can still maintain your lifestyle CHOICE.
I side with your boyfriend.
well, then he wants to decide that they do eat meat? its the same thing. but meat kills your body slowly (this is not jus a vegan point of veiw, because so does any cooked food weather it be meat or veggies).
read this article: http://www.living-foods.com/articles/coo...
I don't know about your position but as a vegetarian I would not want to touch, cook meat. My husband/boy friend would have to do the meat part but I think I would raise my kids without meat. As I said, if my boy friend/husband wants them to hv meat he needs to feed them...
Difficult one. Whilst I agree it isn't right to force your beliefs onto others, especially those who are not able to make any argument against them, if I was still a veggie I would want to feed my children as veggies until they were old enough to question it. If they then decided they wanted to eat meat I would cater for them. I guess that kinda makes me a hypocrite but that's how I felt then.
It is the job and duty of parents to raise their children in a physically and mentally healthy environment, and children have the right to be raised in such an environment. However, in doing so, parents also have the right to choose from a wide variety of styles of upbringing, at least until their children are mature and knowledgeable enough to be considered fully responsible for their own welfare, or the age of majority, whichever comes first. Until then, parents should make the choices regarding their children's nutrition, religion, schooling, discipline, friendship circle, and anything else that matters. I'm on your side.
Don't have any children with him ...
Besides that little tidbit of advice, I'd also suggest breaking up with him. I don't understand why vegetarians date meat eaters ... I find them distasteful, personally, and for exactly this reason.
If you do decide to have children with him, the guilt your children feel when they happen upon videos of tortured farm animals after been spoon-fed animal flesh by their sordid and sadistic father all their lives will totally be on your hands.
Either way, I say the diet should default to vegetarianism - show the kids videos of slaughterhouses when they're old enough to start questioning their diet, and then let them make an educated choice ... don't default them to a meat diet, spare them the guilt and arteriosclerosis.
Of course you would raise your children as vegetarians - there is no debate. And if there is a debate I think he is the wrong guy to have kids with..
As parents you raise your child with your shared ethics.
If you and your husband believe gun violence is horrific you wouldn't let them play with toy guns.
If you thought it was important for them to be respectul to adults you would teach them that.
If you thought killing and eating animals is wrong you would raise them vegetarian and teach them your ethics!
It is the job of a parent to teach your children your ethics.
*Plus an added bonus is your children will be healthy - and actually eat fruits and veggies and not just junky hamburgers and hot dogs. Ick!
I think if kids knew what the *meat* on their plate actually was before they were used to eating it, they would not want to eat it in the first place.
If there is something that is wrong, I would think it would be filling a child's body with the carcasses of dead animals before they have the chance to decide if that is something they want to take part in... especially when they can get everything they need from a vegetation-based diet.
I find it amazing that an adult wouldn't dare dream of telling a child where his/her dinner came from because it is too cruel and horrendous, yet the parent will force that child to take part in the practice of consuming the flesh of dead animals.
Eating meat is a CHOICE. Children should be raised with a cruelty free lifestyle. When they get older, they should be given the knowledge and the ability to choose to eat meat.
People have to do what they feel is best when it comes to raising their children, and what is best will vary from parent to parent. When the child is old enough, s/he can decide whether to eat animals.
:)
No offense, but this is one of the reasons why I would never marry or have children with a meat eater. We live in different worlds of morality.
As a parent , You teach your children right and wrong , you guide them on almost " all " of their life choices until they are old enough to understand and make rational decisions .. You also want the BEST for your children ..So WHY would this be any different ?..Why would forcing them to eat meat be fair ? I fail to see the rational ...Being a vegetarian / vegan is a healthier life choice and the proof is vegetarians live on average 4 years longer then meat eaters and healthier ... Both of my sons now adults were raised vegan ..they are almost 30 and 24 now ..so obviously for some time they have been able to make their own choices but they both are vegan and my 2/12 year old grandson is vegan as well .. my sons are healthy , I am healthy ..and I plan to live a very long time and be around to see my vegan grandchildren grow up healthy and happy ! You really need to sort this out with your boyfriend as this is a major decision .. good luck
If you raise them with the proper nutrition that they need, then why would they need anything else? If he says your choice "isn't fair," then why would it be fair for him to choose?
Millions and millions of children are raised vegetarian, although most not in the US or western cultures.
Parents make decisions for children every day...the same thing can be said about anything....not trying to be funny here but would he also say it would not be fair to feed or not feed kids brussels sprouts? Or raise them under a certain religion?
In my opinion, he is more worried about himself and if you feel strongly about your convictions, I dont think he is a good match for you.
Ignore the "My Opinion" person above...her arguement is one sided and if you look at her other posts, you will clearly see she is anti- vegetarian.
Is it ethical to risk exposing children to prions? The stuff that causes mad cow, chronic wasting and (in humans) vCJD?
Long latency with prion disease! Just when they hit their adult years their brain starts rotting. Look up the rates of Alzheimer's in veggies
Put them at much higher risk of Salmonella? Listeria? E.Coli?
Before a meat eater jumps in about veggies and those bacteria, please remember that they come FROM animals contaminating the veggies and almost all the cases of deadly exposure come from eating contaminated animal products and NOT contaminated veggies!
Does loading the kids up with long-chain saturated fat sound ethical? Look at the recent studies of HDL/LDL levels done in kids!
Maybe it's time to hit one of those sites like greensingle or veggiedate?
I am 20 now but was raised as a vegetarian from birth along with my siblings. I think it is the best thing my parents have ever done for me. They never said I had to be vegetarian, just that they were vegetarians and so they ate vegetarian food.
I was always told that if I wanted them to buy me meat, they would. My parents aren't wacky hippies or anything, we're just a regular family who doesn't eat meat.
Being raised vegetarian has never been difficult for me, has never isolated me and has never EVER made me unhealthy whatsoever. I do not resent anything about it. I intend to raise my children as vegetarians.
I don't think it is in any way unethical. Nor do I believe that it is making a decision for them. They can choose to reverse it at any time and believe me there are plenty of opportunities.
I actually think it is unethical to raise children as meat eaters because they are raised eating meat before they have the mental capacity to realise what it is they are consuming and comprehend that it was alive.
I think the parents should wait till they are old enough, let them pat some baby lambs and then ask if they want to eat a dead one. ( okay that last bit was the bias part of me talking!)
Oh for crying out loud... parents make nearly every decision for their children up to a certain point, from what toothpaste they use to thier religion, and what they eat is no different. Your boyfriend got it backward. You should raise your children as vegetarians if that is your choice, until they are old enough to choose for themselves. Then, if they choose to try meat and continue to eat it, it will be up to them. It sounds like you should reconsider your choice of boyfriend, though. :)
I eat meat and my wife is a vegetarian. She has never pushed being a vegetarian on our children and as the grew older, they became meat eaters. If I had it to do over, I would have pushed for them to be vegetarians..I have decided to convert for health reasons and it really does make it easier when we go out to eat to have similar tastes. If we go to a steakhouse, she is pretty much stuck with a salad and baked potato or fries. Of course I would still want fish occassionally or at least take Omega 3 pills.
One way is to start them as vegetarian and as they grow older let them decide if they want meat. One thing is for sure the two dietary killers among children is fried chicken fingers/nuggets and chocolate milk. once kids eat have these, it pretty much ruins the appetite for other nutritional food.