How can your kids benefit from having a Pet?
Here are five reasons why pets are good for your kids.
Children love to have their pets, and for good reason Creatures large and small teach, delight, and offer a special kind of companionship. An estimated four in 10 children begin life in a family with domestic animals, and as many as 90 percent of all kids live with a pet at some point during their childhood.
Pets Help with Learning
When an animal is brought into a classroom setting, kids are more likely to follow instructions and to focus on a task. They ask more appropriate questions and engage with their teacher more. There are fewer emotional outbursts and more positive behaviors.
Think of your own experiences with kids around dogs. Kids want to get involved, they want to meet the dog and get to pet her. So, they start paying attention and sitting still, because they know if they’re well, they have a better chance of getting that opportunity. A study showed kids actually paid more attention to the teacher in the presence of a dog!
So, this observation supports the conjecture that pets in the classroom are motivating and build wonderful, classroom appropriate kinds of behaviors.
Pets Provide Comfort to Kids
Going through childhood comes with a lot of emotions, dealing with highs and lows, experiencing ups and downs. Having a pet as a companion gives the child a place to turn for comfort and can help them come to grips with some of life’s valuable lessons. It also encourages them to acquire the ability to self-soothe, learn to relax during stressful situations, and deal with their emotions in a productive, nonviolent way.
Pets Encourage Nurturing
Nurturing isn’t a quality that suddenly appears in adulthood when we need it and you don’t learn to nurture because you were nurtured as a child. People need a way to practice being caregivers when they’re young.” Household pets provide frequent opportunities for young boys and girls to develop nurturing habits. Caregiving for animals teaches them responsibility for seeing that the family dog or cat receives fresh water and food at certain times throughout the day.
Children can provide simple care from a very young age and fill greater needs as their abilities allow. Caring for the family pets can also help children expand their sense of self awareness and develop an awareness about other people, time or space. Children will also to develop their ability to anticipate needs.
Pets Can Keep Kids Healthy
Research shows that children who grow up in homes with pets are likely to have a stronger immune system and less likely to develop childhood allergies and asthma. Animal Health tested the saliva of 138 children aged between four and 11-years-old for IgA antibodies- an antibody found in the immune system that helps fight off infection. Results showed that pet-owning children were able to fend off infection such as colds and flu better than those children without pets, thus having less days off school.
Pets Build Family Bonds
A study suggested that children who share a strong bond with their pet somehow maintain stronger bonds with other family members and friends throughout life. A study found that having a pet cat is equivalent to having a romantic partner. Having a pet can boost the overall level of happiness that is experienced by families.
Having a pet isn’t easy. It takes a long-term commitment and requires adequate financial resources for meals, vet visits etc. However, considering the ways in which they can add to your life, I reckon it’s worth the bargain.