There are so many benefits children can receive by caring for a pet. The amount of love and joy that can be experienced by owning a pet is only matched by the innocence of childhood. For children, pets can also supply many opportunities that assist in their development and help grow their emotional intelligence as well as teach them practical life skills.
A pet’s life span is naturally shorter than a human’s affording children the opportunity to come to grips with the reality of the circle of life.
The lesson that comes with the loss of a pet is an opportunity that can be hard to duplicate outside of the real experience. Think about the many books of your childhood that contained an animal as one of the main characters. This includes those where the animal is a pet such as Where the Red Fern Grows. The outcomes of these stories can be heartbreaking on some levels, yet they live on as classics that enable children to “try on” different experiences that can help prepare them for life.
Responsibility, for example, cannot be learned from a book. Owning and caring for animals facilitates an understanding of nature and all that comes with the mechanics of the food chain. Judging nature with a tender heart alone can form misconceptions in a child’s thinking. For example, how often do we root for the hunted to escape the hunter when watching an animal documentary? Few would admit to cheering for the eagle to snatch the little furry animal, yet we do not want the eagle to starve either.
Growing emotional intelligence takes experience and time. With regards to children, it takes guidance, and love. Caring for a pet works wonders, too!
Christina Miller Owner/Head of School Millhopper Montessori School