ACTAsia for Animals announced the launch of their new humane education programme for schools in China, Caring for Life.

ACTAsia believes that the teaching of humane education in schools provides an opportunity for children, their parents and their teachers to develop a sense of responsibility for the environment and for the people and animals that share their world. Humane education teaches us how to make informed choices and how to become actively involved in positive action that contributes to a better world.

Humane education is necessary not only to improve our relationships with animals – it is also about respect for life, including other humans and the environment. A recent terrible incident that attracted worldwide attention was about a little girl who got run over in Guangdong Province. She lay on the ground for over 6 minutes while 18 passers-by did nothing to help her, and no vehicle stopped to help. This case illustrates the need for greater empathy and compassion among humans.

ACTAsia for Animals’ education adviser Professor Xiong Xianjun said at the launch: “We should give children back their childhood. Children need to understand why they should care about the suffering of other lives. Compassion and responsibility are important building blocks of a civilised society.”

ACTAsia also presented an award to Zhuang Nai Hui (Kiki) for promoting compassion and empathy toward animals in her school. Kiki is a 7-year-old in Zhuhai who shared ACTAsia NO Fur badges with her classmates and gave a talk at her school assembly about why people should reject fur. This ultimately led to her school inviting ACTAsia to conduct humane education classes, and it is even planning to set up a Caring for Life club to encourage students to be respect life and be kind to others.

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