Pets and Children

What is the effect that pets have on kids? Although this may seem like a strange question, it isn’t something that most pet owners with children have given a thought to. If we really think about it, pet influence on kids can be great. Very often pets are brought into the family so that kids can be taught a sense of responsibility. If it is an only child, then the child gets a companion and a playmate. The pet effects on kids are such that children get a different perspective of the world. They begin to empathize more with others and are also able to understand subtle feelings.

Pets play an important role in the emotional development of children. This support is provided from a very young age. When children are in the process of getting potty-trained, for example, they sometimes meet with success and sometimes with failure. This can be a very traumatic time for them emotionally especially when they are unsuccessful at it. Pets can, at this time provide non- critical acceptance of your child and help lessen their stress.

Children also begin to understand the different signals their pets give them to understand their feelings. This helps them become more sensitive while dealing with humans. They are also able to understand and decipher body posture more easily.

Children become more conscious about their pet’s emotions and are very often curious about what their pet might be feeling. This curiosity is healthy and is extended to the world around them as well. Under parental guidance a child is able to nurture another living being.  They learn to love their pet and keep it healthy. This sensitivity and caring nature then extends to the people around them as well.

As children get older they are under a lot of stress of competing with their peers both at an academic and athletic level. Both parents and teachers have high expectations of the child which they sometimes find difficult to live up. Here the pet gives the child unconditional acceptance and a sense of self-worth.
Very often children who go through some traumatic experience are able to cope with the animal better when they have a pet to open their heart to. They feel less lonely and have a sense of belonging.

Adolescence is time of experimentation and uncertainty as far a love and companionship is concerned. A pet during this time can be a source of comfort and emotional success.