Should Kids Watch Slaughterhouse Footage?

Do you believe children under sixteen should
watch slaughterhouse footage to see the truth

or should we explain it to them instead?

Hi it's Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome
to another vegan nugget.

Within the world of vegan activism and education,
there exists ample, ample debate about which

methods, individuals, and tactics are the
most effective, and which are ineffective

or even damaging.

One of the most divisive issues is the use
of graphic footage imagery.

Arguments in opposition include: it reduces
the reach of the message as most people avoid

unpleasant content, it makes people less receptive
to hearing about veganism, it’s a cheap

shock tactic when a grounded approach would
yield better results, it’s a further form

of exploiting the animals themselves, et cetera.

Arguments in favor include: most people have
to see to truly believe, there is power in

exposing the truth, especially when it’s
deliberately and systematically hidden, the

animals deserve to have their stories told,
consumers deserve to know the truth about

what they are paying others to do and what
they are putting in their bodies and feeding

to their children, et cetera.

This already controversial debate is profoundly
intensified when one adds in the question

of showing graphic content to children.

This little powder keg of an inquiry was one
of the questions I received during my back-to-back

live Q&A sessions on Facebook and YouTube.

If you missed either of the Q&A sessions,
the links to those videos are in the description

below.

So I thought I’d share my response from
the live stream followed by some additional

thoughts on this subject.

Well, I think, honestly a lot of it depends
on the child and the family, and the parent.

I mean different children have different sensibilities
and different sensitivities, and also different

levels of maturity, just depending.

So I mean, you're going to know your kid better
than anyone else can.

So for some, it might be something that is
important to them, or that would be helpful

for them.

For me, as a kid, I would have liked to have
seen that.

I always say I came out of the womb like 35.

I've always been very serious child.

I was never like a "woo, kid," y’know.

I didn't have the carefree days of my youth.

Anyways, so I think it really, really depends
on the child.

I don't think it's something that should be
done by default.

I think there are ways to explain these things
to kids without graphic imagery, which is

what I do in my kids videos.

However, I am definitely one who thinks graphic
footage is important.

It has incredible value and it has its place.

I still use it very discerningly.

There are a lot of times I could use it and
probably the videos would perform even better

because it's a shock tactic type of thing.

But I only do it if I think it's going to serve the content effectively and that it's purposeful.

But it is important because of the fact that we work so hard—humanity—

to hide the reality of what goes on
with animals and what happens to them.

So there is incredible value to seeing that.

And to letting those animals have their stories
told.

Because they deserve that.

They deserve someone to at least bear witness.

And for me personally, I always think: if
they have to live through that and they have

to die by that, the very least I can do is
bear witness to it.

So I think it's incredibly important and I
do think there is value to showing young people

the truth.

I would never sugar coat for kids, and I say
that in my videos for them.

Y'know "I'm gonna tell you the truth.

I'm not going to show you anything scary,
but I am going to tell you the truth.

I'm not going to lie to you."

So I think as far as the actual footage, that
would probably be up to the parents.

One of the main reasons I started making vegan
videos for kids was how much I wish I’d

had access to this information when I was
younger.

And while I do not show anything graphic in
those videos, I am very passionate about never

talking down to children and adolescents.

Kids are incredibly intelligent and very often
underestimated or even dismissed by us adults.

I remember what that feels like, and I vowed
as a kid to never forget what it was like

being discounted.

This doesn’t mean my content for children
is identical to videos crafted with a more

adult demographic in mind—there is a very
vital difference between pandering and delivering

a message suitable to ones intended audience.

This is a concept I covered in depth in my
speech, “A Wake Up Call For Vegans” which

you can see linked here in the sidebar and
below.

Additionally, I plan on further exploring
the graphic footage debate as a whole in another

dedicated video.

But for now I wanted to touch on a couple
important points.

As with many controversial topics,
there exist far more grey areas than black

and white absolutes.

And while we humans have an affinity for labeling
things one way or another, the effectiveness

and appropriateness of graphic imagery depends
on an endless array of variables.

This touches on one of the most difficult
aspects of what I do with Bite Size Vegan:

attempting to simplify very complex concepts
and arguments without reducing them to a one-dimensional

all or nothing message.

For example, in my “A Wake Up Call For Veganism,”
speech, I stated well into the talk that:

“If we want the world to confront the truth,
we must do the same, no matter how daunting.

Nothing we can experience will ever equal
what the animals are experiencing.

They don’t have the convenience of insulation.

And they deserve us to at the very least bear
witness.

Yes, we already know—or at least we think
we do—but if we, the ones to claim to feel

their pain, if we too refuse to look, how
can we expect the rest of the world to do

it?”

I’ve received feedback from a number of
viewers who have interpreted this as meaning

that all vegans should subject themselves
to traumatizing images and footage constantly.

Of course the very next line was,

“This isn’t about sitting and watching
hours of brutal footage.

That too can be circular.

Berating ourselves or lamenting the impossibility
of it all is equally unproductive.

But we make a grave error when we fail to
ourselves stay connected to the truth.”

I also went into great detail about one of
the times in which I chose not to use graphic

footage despite considerable availability.

At the same time, I have utilized graphic
footage within a number of videos and speeches.

I’ve also streamed live video to my channel
from slaughterhouses in the UK and the United

States.

I do the very best that I can to be as effective
as possible with my activism.

But I will never pretend to have all the answers.

The only way to stop the misinformation and
disinformation we pass down from generation

to generation is to be open and honest with
our children.

This is one of the main themes in my spoken word piece "The Greatest Lie Ever Told"

We teach what we know
which is what we were taught:

the biggest lie ever bought
and our own greatest trick,

is the sick conviction that we
can kill in a way that is kind—

A conscience-gnawing uncertain certainty we
solidify and smooth over and

pass down the line, telling
our kids it’s okay it’s fine

From our generation to the next.

Repetition

breeds

truth.

So while there are plenty of times when, after
much forethought, I’ve chosen not to show

overtly graphic imagery—and I never do in
my content for kids—if there is one thing

I’m certain of, it’s that no matter your
age, everyone deserves to know the truth.

If you found this video helpful, please give
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If you’d like to help support Bite Size
Vegan’s educational efforts, please see

the support links below or the link in the
sidebar.

And a huge thank-you to my Nugget Army of
patrons for making this resource possible.

Now go live vegan, share the truth, and I’ll
see you soon.

So we sing our own praises
back and forth to each other

Teach our children about kindness,
“now pass the turkey to your brother”

Lessons in sharing

carried out over corpses.

Manners in the face of murder are key,
gotta teach the kiddies not to question the

grim reality of what’s on the very plate
before them, please just ignore them,

these bodies and secretions.

Call it meat and milk and ham and eggs
Focus on free-range and cage-free and grass-fed—

because we’re humane.