Parents who get pets will invariably testify that their children become better human beings since the animal came into their lives: more responsible, more sociable and with a stronger character. One of the first to investigate the influence of animals on children was the American child psychologist Boris Levinson. Levinson worked with a boy who would not speak and avoided human contact. Once, Levinson had his dog with him in the office. The boy began to interact with the dog and to Levinson's surprise spoke to the dog – after a month’s complete silence. This was the beginning of his research, which has inspired many others to investigate this area. In the last few decades, developmental psychologists have paid more attention to why some children fail to develop properly. What factors influence the development of children? The Role of Pets in Enhancing Human Well-being: Effects on Child Development by Nienke Endenburg and Ben Baarda for The Waltham Book of Human-Animal Interactions: Benefits and Responsibilities have many interesting insights.
Do pets have an influence on the development of children? Many scientists found that being attached to a pet is related to emotional stability and positive self-esteem in children. Other scientists say that it is not only social and emotional development, but also cognitive development (intelligence) that can be enhanced by owning pets. Why? Child development is an ongoing process. They have to develop intelligence and emotions as well as learn how to interact socially. What affects growth? According to the psychologist Belsky, three factors are identified: the characteristics of the child, psychology of the parents and sources of stress and support. These interact with each other and will determine how the child will develop. Psychology of the parents means their 'personalities', the 'work', ‘marital relations' and ‘parenting style' . Sources of stress and support include 'social network' and 'peer group' and 'housing conditions'.
There is scientific evidence that self-esteem is an important aspect of the development of children. Social and emotional development can be measured by self-esteem, which is built by social skills and a sense of social or moral responsibility. Cognitive development is measured when children learn to read, write and do mathematics. Social networks or loving friends and relatives enhances self-esteem contributing to mental development and protecting against stress. Parenting influences the development of the child. Parental use of reasoning, consistent discipline and expressions of warmth relate positively to self-esteem and intellectual achievement during the school-age years. A good marriage is the most important form of support.
How do pets fit into this framework of developing social emotional and cognitive development? If there are pets in the house, parents and children frequently share in taking care of the pet. Youngsters learn early to care for and nurture a dependent animal. For younger children, involvement, positive reinforcement and acceptance are important for building self-esteem. Accomplishing tasks appropriate to their age (e.g. a 3-year-old cannot walk a dog, but can help by giving it water) when taking care of the pet with their parents, makes a child feel more competent. Pre-school children enjoy imitating their parent's work.
Scientist Bergesen found that children's self-esteem scores increased significantly over a nine month period of keeping pets in their school class room. In particular, it was children with originally low self-esteem scores who showed the greatest improvements. It was found that early pet owners had higher self-esteem scores than non-pet owners. Another aspect of social-emotional development is empathy, the child's ability to understand how someone else feels. Studies show it is possible that by interacting with pets that are totally dependent on the owner, children learn to understand the feelings and needs of animals and those of fellow human beings from an early age.
Surveys found that children who owned pets felt more empathy towards other people, especially in 3-6-year-old pet-owning children rather than their non-pet-owning counterparts. Pets also have been cited as providing important 'social' support. Children when asked who they would go to with a problem regularly nominated their pets The advantages of confiding in an animal as compared to humans is that pets can make children feel unconditionally accepted. Children sense that pets will love and accept them unconditionally (even when the child gets angry or performs poorly at school) and provide a source of non-judgemental affection.
What about developing intelligence in children? Scientists have found beyond doubt that cognitive development improves through the bond between children and pets. Pet ownership facilitates language acquisition and enhances verbal skills in children as a result of the pet functioning both as a patient listener of the young child's babble which acts as a stimulus for communication from the child in the form of praise, orders, encouragement and punishment. Pets are valuable tools to educate children about life events. Two such situations, where parental reactions influence children, are when an animal is born or dies. The death of a pet and how their parents deal with sadness and loss will have an influence on how children cope with death in general throughout their lives, making the child more sensitive to pain.
Another interesting find is that dog ownership was associated with greater family cohesion. When a pet has been acquired there is an initial increase in the frequency of children's social interactions within their own home. Of families surveyed in the USA, 52% reported an increase in the time the family spent together after they acquired their pets. As many as 70% reported an increase in family happiness and fun, subsequent to pet acquisition. All the psychologists working in this area, stress that all these effects come when a pet comes into a house, when the child is pre- kindergarten. If you have just had a baby, get a dog quickly.
Maneka Gandhi
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