Is there an aspect of inclusion your school is missing? Ruth Jenkins
What if there were thousands of pupils in schools across the UK with a belief protected under the Equality Act 2010 , but who experienced discrimination and exclusion in school every day? What if these pupils were living in a way that tackled climate change, reduced their risk of developing the UK’s leading causes of disease, and they were determined to be kind? Are those reasons why they should be discriminated against? Surely that couldn’t happen in your school? Sadly, our research finds that this is the case across the UK. Since January this year, vegan pupils have registered over 1,000 of their schools to receive Vegan-Inclusive Education packs in a bid to help improve inclusion in this area. 252 pupils have completed a survey to capture their day to day experiences as vegans in school, and the results show a widespread challenge and huge improvement opportunity for schools. Fewer than 40% of respondents feel welcome as a vegan pupil in their school, and less than 40% feel safe. Only 12% feel supported to take pride in their vegan beliefs, and only 13% feel valued. If pupils do not feel welcome, safe, supported and valued, they will not be able to learn at their best.
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Why might vegan pupils not feel safe? Pupils need to feel safe to learn effectively, but they will feel unsafe if they are being teased or bullied because of their beliefs. 73% of respondents have been teased for their vegan beliefs at school. 72% of them were teased by other pupils, but 16% were teased by teachers and 12% by other school staff. 42% of respondents said that they had been bullied because of their vegan beliefs. 76% of those were bullied by other pupils, but 13% were bullied by teachers and 12% were bullied by other staff. Of those who had been teased or bullied, only 25% said their school had been swift and helpful to tackle the issue, which contradicts every antibullying policy written by schools. Without recognising veganism as a belief susceptible to bullying, schools are likely to be slower to respond to bullying that arises, and will likely find it hard to manage successfully without the preparatory work of inclusive policies and training for staff and pupils alike.