Some of our fondest memories of childhood always contain a reference to some pet. In times when we felt left out as a kid, the presence of your house dog always made you feel better such that you honestly felt closer to your pet than your other friends.
If you consider giving your child a pet, take heart because it has already been proved scientifically that pets are good for kids. Pets have been shown to raise the self-esteem of children, they teach kids to be more responsible, they make kids more physically and socially active, and animals have been shown to speed up patient recovery from ailments and therapies.
Pets evoke strong reactions from children One of the first studies on the influence of animals on children started when American child psychologist Boris Levinson noticed how his pet dog was able to make a particularly difficult child patient speak.
A child’s self esteem is strengthened when there is a pet in the household. Being involved in the care of a dependent animal makes a child feel involved and accepted. A child as young as three years old can help feed the dog or pour water into the cat’s bowl. When he is able to do this, he feels accepted and useful and gets positive reinforcement from his parents when they acknowledge that he is doing an important job.
Caring for a pet develops a child’s feeling for empathy which is an understanding of how somebody else feels. By taking care of a pet that is totally dependent on humans, the child learns how it is to be needed and this makes the child more sensitive to the feelings of people around him. It is not unusual for children to talk to their pets when they have problems. Their unconditional support is preferable to that of other humans who kids fear may judge and criticize them. That is why pets provide some form of social support for children. The death of a pet can even impart more important lessons about life. How the situation of a pet’s death is handled will have important bearing in how a child will cope with death throughout his life.
Kids benefit from having pets and the good they bring to children can be observed even when they are still toddlers. Feelings of self esteem, empathy and responsibility are some of the benefits identified and these are traits that will make these children grow up to become productive and caring adults.
