I remember when I was in eighth grade, and I researched animal rights for a project. I began feeling somewhat neutral, but by the time I was finished, I was outraged, horrified. I made it my personal crusade to end such cruelty, writing letters, educating anyone I could. But it never seemed like enough. So, in high school, I decided to join the Animal Rights Club. That's when I realized there was no Animal Rights Club. So, I made the decision to start one of my own. It sounds much simpler than it actually was.
First, I had to find a school sponsor, arouse enough interest within the student body to start a club (about fifteen to twenty students), and then wait to see if the district would approve. This all took a couple of months, and then we started to have meetings. It started very slowly. We tirelessly made posters and urged our friends to join, and this resulted in only a few more members. Our biggest problem was basically that we could not get the word out--we could not get people to listen to us.
We really got our start when we decided to put up a display during lunch. About six of us brought a varied sampling of vegan foods such as Boca Chick'n Nuggets, veggie burgers with soy cheese, miniature fake ham sandwiches, and vegan corn dogs. Some really liked the food; others did not care for it. But they listened. We gained about twenty members in three lunch hours, many of whom did not even know our club existed before the food sampling. Now, while we do get a few hard-core meat eaters who argue mercilessly with our vegetarian members, we are highly successful in changing attitudes toward animal cruelty and vegetarianism.
Our members actively participate in letter-writing campaigns, fund-raising, and awareness. We also exchange vegan recipes, and we will hopefully have our first vegetarian cookout next fall. It was quite a bit of work to start this club and gain new members, but it has at least begun to make an impact on our school community, which is really the first step in making a big difference. It is our hope that we inspire our fellow students to take a stand and influence others, because we need to defend the defenseless. It has been an excellent experience for many of us founding members despite difficulties in the beginning. It is very rewarding, and if anyone out there is considering it, I would definitely encourage fellow teenagers to pursue starting their own club, or at least to become actively involved in the animal rights movement.
The most important thing to remember, in my opinion, is to always stick with it and not to waver from your convictions. I faced a lot of insults and had countless arguments with fellow students about how this was a pointless venture, but I never let them negatively influence me. In the end, I knew that what I was doing was right, and I urge everyone to overcome the ignorance of many people in order to make a positive difference.
--Karen is a junior in high school. She has been a vegetarian for about four years and has tried to maintain a basically vegan lifestyle for about a year. Becoming a vegetarian has allowed her to explore new foods that she would never have discovered otherwise.
Send feedback about this article
I love the article on Animal Rights Club by Karen. It's very awesome
to know that she started an animal rights club and people wanted to
join. I agree, we need to help the defenceless, and she and other
people did. I really want to start a group when I go to high school
(this year 9th).
--XVeganXCorex
