Hi tanrayfox

I would say you just have to be strong! My brother, in high school, chose to be the only one who would wear the school uniform and he got teased and harassed and I also got bullied and harassed, while I was still in primary school (just down the road from the high school where my brother was at), just because I was his brother!

But my brother didn't back down i.e. he stood firm and eventually everyone came to respect him and leave him alone.

Perhaps another thing to keep in mind is that high school isn't forever; it will be over one day....

i can not believe everyone has to have an opinoin on what other eat!! it makes me soooooooooo crazy.i think you should do what they are doing to you.if you see someone eat meat go up to them and say, thats discusting i cant believe you are eating that,!!!!! im sorry for what you are going through i have been there,you will get yours back when you live a long healthy life.

thanks for your advice everyone. i really hope that they see that im not being in their face about my morals.. literally once i open my lunch or if they open theirs the teasing begins. but most of the time its whenever i talk to ANYONE. :'( i really hate being harassed.

this is what i say. i accept people and dont judge them for eating meat because i want them to accept me for not eating meat. im ok if they decide to eat meat everyday for the rest of their lifes as long as they know that its 100% my choice to decide what i want to put in my body and what i want to keep away from my body. they can do whatever they want with their bodies so let me do whatever i want with mine.

well, the other thing is, is that at my school ive done maybe 2 or 3 presentations on animal testing, how to be a vegetarian, and i think thats it. and from those 2 speeches (both 5 mins, in different classes) it basicully exploaded into my entire school talking about how im the vegan freak. Im not sure if i can escape this. I think i might transfer next semester :/

first off, it really sucks that you are going through this. People can really be stupid.

I would try to turn it into a joke.

"Oh no! it's the meat police!"
"Why are you so interested in what I eat? Go get a hobby."

or exaggerate it and use their jokes yourself. It REALLY takes the power away from them.

"I'll just be over here chewing on my twigs and berries!"

try to remember that these are generally small minded people who are scared of things different. People who make fun of vegetarians often have security problems where they secretly worry that they are ethically inferior... and they feel the need to put you down. I try to feel sorry for these people.

I wish you the best of luck. Remember, high school is a very small part of your life. Anybody who puts too much stock into it has many many unhappy years ahead. Your life, however, will only get better.

I have to agree with the last thing that Dave said. Try to make a joke out of it and put it back on them, if you show them that they can't get to you it will take the power out of them trying to get to you.
I hated high school, did very well as far as grades, but people were so stupid. I really want to repeat what the others have been saying, high school is over before you know it. Life after high school is liberating, and you end up realizing how immature and little those people really are. Hold your head up high and when they act like that to you, look at them with a knowing confidence and a little attitude and say something to the effect of what Dave suggested. Hang in there :)

Wow this is so weird...
I`ve never experienced bulliyng because of veganism...
I`ve stopped eating meat when I was 3 years old and I never got mean comments. not even in elementary school...
My parents were a bit difficult but whatever...
But this is shocking! Why would they be so stupid.
At my old school when I told someone that I`m a vegetarian/vegan then there were always positive reactions. They always said that they thought that was cool and how they thought about stopping eating meat too... The `worst `question I get is: Uhh but were do you get your vitamins? ;P
I just wanted to add this here, because not every school and every teen is like that.
In germany veganism became a real lifestyle...
And it`s growing, people understand more...
maybe it will reach your school too and then you`ll be the trendsetter ;D
Good luck and stand your ground

Join local Vegan groups. T hey will be able to help you feel that you belong and your choice is one of compassion and health and you will feel much better with like-minded folks about you. The school years are full of awkward, weak kids who are trying to find their way in the world and some just can't and so pick on others who have definitive choices about their lives. Vegans sadly at this point in time (although Veganism is growing by leaps and bounds around the world! Be proud!) are the minority and do get grief, but stand your ground. Be ready to explain Veganism if someone is interested. HEY find out if they hold 'Cubes of Truth' in your city and join one..it will help you learn to discuss Veganism and just generally feel better about your choices. I wish you well. btw FB has tons of Vegan groups where you can ask questions and get support.

Hi here,

That is an interesting screen name, as I thought that DS had deleted the person who started this thread, and now I see you called your self that way. Now I wonder if it is some kind of Freudian slip?

The thing about vegetarian / vegan is that we simply must be proud of it as our identity and make our pride seen by other people.

Some one calls me a vegan freak - and I say - you damn right I am.

It also helps to tell them that both Abe Lincoln and Adolf Hitler were vegetarians because those names often sting people into deeper thoughts.

For myself I call meat eaters as barbarians and barbaric and that too stuns them.

My view is that bullying is really just being defensive, because a weak person strikes out in defense when they perceive any affront to their self, and when ever any person thinks about their butchered food then they too see that it is barbaric and they feel negative and feel guilt and feel exposed and vulnerable, and it is right that they do feel like that.

As to the Bible then the barbarians like to point out that after Noah's ark then God told people to eat the animals, but that was because the people were sinful, and before Noah's ark then God originally created humanity as vegetarian / vegan per Genesis 1:29 link here = https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1%3A28-31&version=KJV

See too see that having "dominion" over the animals in verse 28 does not include eating the animals as said in the very next verse 29.

Also I (we all) must confront the health debates, because people tell me that chicken is good for you, and fish is good for you, so my reply is always the same that it is not good for the chicken, not good for the fish, or the cow or pig or etc.

I would also suggest to never date and never marry a meat eater.