Several videos of toddlers, just over two years old, have gone viral online. They cry and protest because they don't want to eat animals, offering convincing and obvious arguments. Reluctance to eat animals at some point in a child's development is common and is based primarily on empathy; an empathy towards other animals that has not yet been shaped or eliminated by society. It is therefore important that the educational system (social, familial, and academic) works to strengthen this empathy, not to suppress it.
Although empathy is greater at such young ages than in adolescents, adolescence offers a potential advantage that sometimes allows us to challenge the idea that animals are meant to serve us. The transition from childhood to adulthood involves questioning our surroundings. In adolescence, individuals begin to develop critical thinking, not only regarding the ideas of people from distant backgrounds, but also those of their immediate environment, including their family.
Society accepts adolescent rebellion, as long as it involves questioning trivial values: when can I use the computer, when can I use my mobile phone, what time do I have to be home after a night out, and so on. But, although teachers and families claim to want to contribute to the development of critical thinking, few accept that a teenager might question the values instilled in them since childhood. Teenagers who question social values, such as viewing animals as a resource, are often ridiculed at home, at school, and even among their own friends. Critical thinking is neither expected nor accepted to go that far. But it is precisely this profound questioning that society needs for its renewal.