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A young mother has pulled her son out of school after she claims he was bullied by a teacher because he is vegan.

Student nurse Kirsty Rother, 23, and her husband Kenny have three children, Byron Marley, six, Matilda Rainbow, two, and Luna Peaches, 10 months, who are all raised as vegan.

My three little monkeys ????????????

A post shared by Kirsty (@raisingflowerchildren) on

Byron was taken out of school because he was singled out by a teacher who mocked him for his parents’ beliefs, so the Queensland couple chose to home-school him themselves, shares Daily Mail.

‘Sending Byron to school is not something we would ever consider again,’ said Kirsty, who refers to all three siblings as her ‘Flower Children’.

‘We actually decided to home-school when Byron was in reception, but it turned out to be a massive flop. We returned him to school, then only months later realised it was a mistake and schooling wasn’t suited to him as an individual or us as a family.

I believe the one thing that puts people off going vegan and put me off when I was making the transition is this thing called “the vegan police”. They will literally tear you to shreds on everything you consume/purchase/wear and make remarks on anything they can trying to “catch you out” as a vegan and have an extremely hostile approach. I get it all the time and it even makes me roll my eyes and I’m a vegan so I could only imagine how it infuriates people who don’t eat vegan, it would put them off of this lifestyle completely! For the record, if you see my children in anything that contains animal products, they were bought before I went vegan, they are recycled or were given to us by a friend/family member (who I have now educated on what to buy and what not too) I would never consciously purchase anything containing animal products because I don’t want to support or contribute to these industries. But please, if you’re a vegan, instead educate but in a kind way, don’t be “the vegan police” or feel the need to comment on someone’s post to interrogate them, this is the best way to push people away from this lifestyle, I know because it pushed me away years ago when I wanted to become a vegan. Be kind, don’t assume and encourage people to become vegan in a nice way✌️????

A post shared by Kirsty (@raisingflowerchildren) on

‘So, we put a plan in place the second time and it’s been successful ever since.

‘Regular school didn’t work for us because it needed a set routine. We were also extremely upset when Byron was bullied by a teacher who didn’t agree with him being vegan and singled him out because of it.

‘I found that a lot of what they were teaching Byron was the opposite of what we were teaching in the first place, so it was extremely counterproductive.

‘We aren’t restricted to just weekends or school holidays to do things. We can trial and error and adjust our learning program to what suits us at that particular time. Byron can choose what he wants to learn, rather than be told.’

‘We usually start the morning off with yoga, meditation and affirmations to give them a positive start to the day. The children start their yoga or meditation anywhere from 5am to 6.30am depending on when they wake up,’ she said.

‘Then we plan Byron’s day out with a white board with his usual learning program and ask him something in particular he is interested in learning that day, so we can incorporate that into his learning.

All five members of Kirsty’s family are vegan, even 10mth old, Luna Peaches, who drinks vegan smoothies from her baby bottle.

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  • Now this would have been something that I would have taken up with the school. just because a teacher doesnt believe in being vegan is no reason for them to belittle a kid….in fact there is zero reasons for ever doing that. This teacher needs to be spoken to about her attitude towards children and if she cant change then she needs to find another job.

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  • What a sad state of affairs that teachers need to join in on bullying. They should be setting an example. Imagine if that teacher gets a gay child in their classroom, I wonder if worse bullying would be done. The teacher should have been reported, they basically walked away and left him to continue his bullying on some other kid

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  • They may never get the correct qualifications to get jobs .I wonder what future these children will have when they need to be independent. I wonder if either if the parents are employed. If Kirsty is a student nurse does that mean she is still at TAFE or University and not working at all. I don’t know if the same system works Australia wide, but in some states they aren’t employed as enrolled nurses until they finish their training. They can work as enrolled nurses and study part time to be a Registered Nurse. It takes longer for them to get their degrees and graduate.

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  • I do hope Kirsty has given up on nursing as I would definitely not like her to be my nurse at any time, ever.

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  • Bullying is never okay, however, after reading this article I think it was more than just about being vegan. The family sound like total fruit loops not just with the names they’ve given their kids but also the whole letting the child decide what they want to learn. I’m sorry but that’s not how the real world works. When they get a job they aren’t going to be able to say ‘sorry, I don’t feel like working today’ or ‘I don’t want to do my training exercise just yet’. I think that their parenting methods are counterproductive.

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  • Wow, a teacher has no right to bully a child for anything. It is not okay. However, I do get the sense that home schooling may be what suits this family and their beliefs. I hope it works out for them.

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  • I think the biggest problem was the family, they seem to me to be rather difficult. Saying that, the teacher actions were unwarranted. Home school works for some but not for all. Weirdly the thing I focused on most was that the 6yo has dread locks!

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  • Schools are not right for all. The teacher should had know better then to do this. One of my twins is home-schooled as he could not cope with the pressure of it. His sister supported him last year when he pulled out of school, This year I have one in school and one home-schooled. It is the parents rights and if a child is not happy or stressed out, home-school is best.

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  • The teacher is unprofessional and should not judge any child for any difference.

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  • Not pretty behaviour of the teacher ! I can understand these parents decision. Nothing wrong with blogging about your life journey either, using writing as a tool to express your feelings and share your thoughts. It probably serves a need of the blogger `and reader.

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  • I have been vegan for years, but I don’t post it all around the internet or even tell people, only if they are interested., too many people like to judge other’s choices in life. Plant-based diet is the fastest growing diet in the world but there are many people who seem threatened when someone is not part of the “norm” . The teacher was not being professional. I would have taken my child to another school but I do agree homeschooling is great for a lot of people who want to let their children express their individuality, I don’t agree with using children as your source of blogging either, not being very humble if you have to blog everything about your kids.

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  • I think that if you don’t want to conform to school type hours and activities then home schooling is better for the family.

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  • Sounds like they had a problem with the school curriculum more then anything

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  • I’m not impressed by that teacher’s reaction. They shouldn’t judge people’s choices. And taking it on the kids is quite bad.

    Reply

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