Young people have rights! According to the organisation the United Nations, you have the right to be educated, eat healthy food, and get decent health care. You also have a right to life – which the basic right not to be killed. When you look across the world at the fighting and destruction taking place, you might wonder sometimes what’s happened to those rights.

In the West, young people have their rights that we tend to take for granted. At school, no one expects a Muslim or Catholic to attend a Protestant church service. If you’re Jewish, you have the right not to be served pork in your school dinner; and if you’re Catholic, you’d expect to be served fish on Fridays. These are religious rights but there are others, too, such as the right of a pacifist not to be forced into the army. It’s all about conscience – not doing something which offends your personal beliefs. Everyone should have that right whatever their age.

However, you may find you are unhappy about something which clashes with your beliefs at school – and I don’t mean a belief in not doing homework! It has to be something which really offends your conscience. It could be that you’re asked to do something which you believe is racist or sexist. Or it could be something which is in conflict with your belief in the rights of animals not to suffer. Whatever it is, you have a right not to participate in that activity because it goes against your beliefs. But you have to plan how you’re going to do it.

One issue which may arise, for example, is the question of dissection. It may be that you find dissection objectionable but that your school expects you to take part.

The first thing to do is to ask at the beginning of the school year whether dissection is going to be included in your science or biology class. If this is the case, the next step is to gather as much information as possible about the subject – the alternatives to dissection, the school’s policy, and whether the school is legally entitled to make you take part. The best way of doing this is to make contact with national or local organisations which will support you and give you the latest information (see the index of organisation on pp. 180-83.)

In the UK, you don’t have to take part in dissection. Teachers can’t make you nor can they mark you down for refusing. (Of course, some may not tell you this!) You may find, however, that your school has a policy of exempting veggie students from dissection. The thing to do id to plan what you’re going to say, then go and see your teacher. Explain your objections and ask to be given an alternative. Stay calm and be polite. The worst thing you can do is get drawn into a shouting match. If you find it hard to talk to your teacher, write a letter instead. You may also want to ask your parents to write a letter supporting your choice. (Although you don’t need your parent’s support to act on and defend your beliefs, it can help!)

Many teachers are understanding, particularly if you give them a chance to make alternative arrangements, rather than just opting out on the day of the dissection. However, some teachers aren’t so helpful and might refuse to do anything. In this case, you may want to consider organising further support.

Jennifer Neal is a sixth-form student. She was asked to dissect a rat when she was 15, and she says:
‘The rats were stiff, so to open them out flat on their backs to cut open their stomachs, their legs had to be broken and pins put through their paws. The teacher told us not to think of it as breaking bones, but to imagine we were breaking bits of plastic.
I refused to take part and my teacher made fun of me. The next day I wrote to Animal Aid for leaflets and petitions against dissection and gave them out to my class. I was surprised at how many people agreed with me, even though they’d gone ahead and done the dissection! Most of my class signed the petition so we had a meeting to decide what to do next.
About ten of us gave out more petitions to other years in the school and we collected signatures on our breaks. In the end about three-quarters of the school signed. We then arranged a meeting with the head of biology and handed the signatures to him. We also took along a booklet of alternatives to dissection and asked for them to always be available.
At first he tried to make us out to be trouble makers, but I think our strength of numbers really made a difference because after a while he listened to us. A week later, he said in class that the school was going to buy alternatives for anyone who didn’t want to dissect. Most people chose the alternatives and eventually, the school phased out dissection altogether.’

All this isn’t just theory, it works. Students all over countries such as Britain and New Zealand have brought an end to dissection in their schools.

Another big issue you may be faced with at school is the right to veggie meals. Some schools have moved with the times and provide pretty delish veggie food every day, but if yours isn’t one of them, don’t be afraid to ask for a better choice. Again gather together as much information as you can: about what other schools in your area offer, what groups such as the World Health Organisation think about a veggie diet and, of course, use the information in this book. Start by keeping a note of what veggie food is offered over the course of a week or more in your school.

When politicians want to change things they usually try to find out how much support they’ve got. You can do the same. You could do a survey of other pupils to see what they want, find out the teachers’ views and perhaps even a few parents. See how many would like a decent veggie option every day – it probably won’t be just veggies who support you either, many meaties also like to have the choice.

Finally, arm yourself with recipes which are suitable for school caterers and then go and see your head teacher or cook. Most respond well (honest!) and will add at least one proper veggie meal a day. If you’re unlucky and come up against the ‘I can’t be doing with these fads’ type of attitude there are other things you can do.

Parents can play an important part so try to get them involved. If they’re sympathetic, ask your mum or dad to have a little word in the head teacher’s lug hole; this usually works wonders! The more parents and teachers who are involved the better. Again, get as many pupils involved as possible and get a petition going. It’s your right to be vegetarian and most schools do accept their responsibility to cater for you – but if they don’t, sort ‘em out!
Graeme Simmons, 16, of Brighton definitely needed a campaign for better veggie meals at his school. He explains:
‘When I went veggie I asked the cook what food I could eat. She gave me a bowl of pea and ham soup and told me to take out the meat! I couldn’t get through to her, so I went to see the head teacher. She was quite sympathetic and admitted some teachers wanted veggie food as well. She had a meeting with the caterers that provided food to the school and we were given a choice of one main vegetarian meal a day from them on. It’s not great but it’s better than being offered dead pig!’

Laura Jones, 14, of Oswestry in Shropshire has gone a step further. Her school provides vegetarian and vegan options daily:
‘I contacted the veggie organisation Viva! For recipes and had a meeting with the head cook. I couldn’t believe how helpful she was, she saw vegan cooking as a new challenge and her food is amazing. The only problem is that the meat eaters all now want the veggie choices so I have to get to the counter before it’s all gone.’

Unfortunately, not all schools are open minded. Katherine Leaf, 15, of Glasgow says that her school is:
‘embarrassingly backward when it comes to vegetarianism. There are three veggies in my class but other pupils and teachers weren’t interested when we tried to get a veggie option on the menu. Even my mum contacted the head teacher, but suddenly I went from being seen as just normal Kathy to a stirrer and then my friends backed out of the campaign. They said it was because they had decided to take packed lunches, but really there were scared of getting into trouble! I still can’t believe that the head teacher takes vegetarianism as some kind of personal threat!’

When you plan a campaign, first be aware of the kind of influences schools are under. They are usually under huge pressure from governments who provide money out of taxes to pay teachers’ wages and run the schools. It is often governments who set the cirriculum, decide class sizes and even dictate the content of lessons. In the end, teachers have to answer to government for the money they spend and the decisions they make. If things aren’t seen as going well in schools it’s generally the teachers who are blamed.

When you try to make demands at school you are in a way, challenging teachers’ judgement and control. Some teachers and school authorities may react by thinking. ‘If it’s any good for them, we would have thought of it already!’ Teachers are themselves usually under a lot of pressure from those above them and they might not have the energy – or inclination to deal with pressure from you, too. Many won’t react like this, but be prepared for the worst. If you want to be taken seriously then you have to prove to the teachers that you are for real.

The first and most important lesson, as I’ve said before, is to gather the facts. The second is that there's strength in numbers. It doesn’t really matter what you’re complaining about – dissection, school meals, better resources – you should tackle them all in much the same way. Argue your case amongst your friends and classmates everywhere you can get them to listen. Gather like-minded people around you and work out exactly what it is you’re complaining about and what action you want the school to take. If you don’t make clear and easily understood requests, the chances are that nothing will happen.
Sometimes the biggest problem in organising support is apathy – other pupils just can’t be bothered. This might be because they don’t share your concern, or because they don’t know the truth of the situation or because it’s the type of school that squashes any initiatives. Sometimes students think they’re powerless and can’t change anything.

The answer to apathy is information and involvement. Make sure people know all the information you have available and try getting them actively working on something. You might do it by forming small groups with special tasks, perhaps to find out what other schools in the area are doing on your particular issue or what help different pressure groups and charities can offer.

At the end of the day, you might find that the issue which concerns you isn’t of any interest to other pupils. If that is the case you can carry on by yourself but it might make success a bit harder to achieve.

If you are working with others, it’s important to democratic and to listen to all viewpoints. Don’t allow one person to dominate the meetings or to belittle others in the group. Encourage everyone to have a say. But you can’t debate things indefinitely and there comes a time when you have to take decisions. Again, do it democratically and having reached a decision – stick to it. If you ignore the majority view the group is likely to fall apart.

You also need to be prepared for some of your supporters to cave in and desert you at the first bit of conflict. Now that you know this may happen, try and prepare for it. Decide between you what it is you’re prepared to settle for and how far everyone is prepared to go to get it. Once everyone’s had their say, they all understand what’s involved, and you’ve made the decision, tell the group that anyone who is not prepared to go along with the decision should leave now. Really stress it. They probably won’t leave, and it will make it more difficult for them to back out later.

Once you’ve decided to do something – do it! If you don’t act your supporters will lose interest. Even if your first demand is just a verbal request to a teacher, tackle it seriously. Plan what you want to say, make a note of the main points so you don’t forget then and work out in your head the words you intend to use. You may find it helps to practise saying them out loud so you feel confident about them in your meeting.

When the meeting’s over, make a note of the date and time, who you spoke to, what decision was reached and why. You need these details to remind you of what happened when you report back to the group, even more importantly, you might also need to refer back to them one day in order to prove a point about what was said or agreed.

If this first meeting is unsuccessful, put your request in writing and send it to someone more senior. Be polite and calm, avoid using aggressive or confrontational language, set out your demands clearly – the reasons for them and what you want to happen. Obviously, the furthest you can go in the school itself is the head teacher or principal. If you have to take it that far, use every means possible to spread news of your request to other students. Put notices up on your school bulletin board, write in to the school magazine, raise it with the school council if there is one, and gather as much support around you as possible.

If you don’t get any joy from the head teacher, you can take your request even further: to the Board of Governors for instance, or the Parent Teacher Association (PTA). Each time you go a step further, include details of the previous steps in your request – what was said and what has been decided so far.

More often than not, the situation will have been resolved or a compromise reached before this stage. However, if your request still isn’t being taken on board, there is still more you can do. If you genuinely feel your grievance is real and isn’t being taken seriously, you can try getting support further afield. One way of doing this is by getting publicity in the local press, including newspapers, radio and television. But be careful before you do this. Once you start down this road you are in much deeper water. You need to be very sure it is the issues which are important to you and not the glory. You will also need a lot of support because once you take this step, it becomes very hard for the school, the Board of Governors, or anyone else, is to back down. The only way of settling this situation is by compromise – each side giving in on something. So again, you need to ask yourself what it is you’re prepared to compromise on.

If you do decide to go ahead with this step, then the ‘Letters to the Editor’ section is a good place to start. This is because letters tend not to be interfered with and are printed as you wrote them. If a journalist decides to interview you, that’s a different matter. It could be exactly the break you need, but be careful. Media often has its own agenda and journalists may decide that the real story isn’t the one you want them to cover.

For them it might be much more interesting to do a piece about bolshy school kids challenging their ‘elders and betters’. You know the kind of thing – ‘Bring back the cane! It wasn’t like this in my day! It’s all the fault of pop groups/drink/teenage sex! What’s happening to the world?’ If that does happen then you’ll know you’ve got right up their nose – and probably have a very good case!

However great the uproar and however far you go, the most important thing is never to lose sight of what you’re arguing for. Most people respect beliefs, principles and courage; hardly anyone respects a loud mouth!

Asking for change means questioning the powers that be, and won’t always be welcome. Every veggie, often without realising it, is doing this to some degree. But even if you don’t win a particular campaign, you will have influenced other. Simply by stating your beliefs, you will have planted a seed in other people’s minds which may affect their attitude in the future . . . to animals and perhaps to a lot of things. So don’t be afraid to make your voice and views heard.