Most children naturally adore animals and love keeping pets. It is really good to rear pets in a home with children. Pet ownership allows a kid to learn how to care and treat an animal with kindness and patience. Thus, the child gets invaluable training to treat people the same way. The pets love, teach, delight, and offer special kinds of companionships for children. Let’s discuss the awesome benefits of raising kids around pets and domestic animals.
Advantages of Pet Ownership for Children
Raising children with pets has a lot of benefits. Children can grow their self-esteem and self-confidence by developing positive feelings about pets. By building positive relationships with pets, children can develop trusting relationships with others. A good relationship with a pet can help the kid develop non-verbal communication skill, compassion, and empathy. Pet ownership can serve different purposes for children:
– Pets develop the power of secrets and private thoughts in children. Kids talk to their pets and this process helps to grow their thought processes.
– Children get lessons about life, including reproduction, birth, illnesses, accidents, death, and bereavement from pets.
– Pet contributes a lot in developing responsible behavior in the children.
– Undoubtedly pets or animals provide a pure connection to nature.
– A child who owns a pet can know how to show respect for other living things.
Pet ownership can contribute to developing the following physical and emotional needs:
– Physical activity
– Comfort contact
– Love, loyalty, and affection
– Know how to adjust to a loss as they experience a pet is lost or dies.
Most of the children are kind and gentle to pets but some may be rough or even abusive to pets. If such behavior continues in a child, it may be a sign of significant emotional problems. Children who abuse, torture, or kill animals should be referred to a child psychiatrist for a comprehensive evaluation.
Why raise children around livestock and domestic animals?
Some proven benefits of raising children around livestock and domestic animals
Boosts immune systems
Children who play outside with mud and animals have powerful immune systems. Besides, research shows that children who stay outside in a less sanitized environment and around different bacteria can boost immune system function. So, it is important to let your kids get outside and play in the dirt and with farm animals.
Learns to care another living being
Baby animals are lovely and they love to be taken care of them by humans to give them food, water, and shelter. They also wish for a clean environment for human beings so they can grow and thrive. So, the children who can take care of tiny pets, know how to take care of another living thing. Without keeping your kid with pets, it may be difficult to teach them such an attitude.
Improve emotional health
Nature soothes human’s mental and emotional health. Animals are part of nature. So, it is natural that kids will get mental and emotional soothing keeping in touch with animals. Keeping in touch with pets can soothe the souls of kids. The children who are raised around livestock are naturally calm and quiet.
Understands the life cycle dots
Although kids cannot tolerate pets’ death, whenever they goodbye them finally, they understand that nothing lasts forever. And because of that, kids make sure they help give these animals the best life possible. These kids also treat their siblings better. They are kind to their friends. And they are gentle with nature.
Keep kids active and healthy
Farm animals are generally messy. We need to make sure that their living place is neat and clean to keep these animals safe and healthy. Children raised around farms are naturally involved with cleaning activities. Kids involved with barnyard chores get the scope to soak in the sun and fresh air and build and strengthen muscles as they work.
Farm animals provide a natural source of nutrition
Children who are raise around domestic animals, generally get an excellent source of nutrition like farm fresh eggs, milk, meat. You can also make natural butter and cheese from fresh milk. Moreover, farm-fresh products are also reasonable in price.
Keeping farm animals is heart-healthy
A good connection with animals can be beneficial to your heart :
– Reducing stress
– Lowering your blood pressure
– Decreasing your cholesterol
– Reducing the risk of obesity
– Improving your physical fitness
– Giving companionship and love—all good for the heart.
Spend less time on technology
It is proven that if children have anything extra to do, they spend less time with technology or gadgets. As the children living near to farm require spending time there to take care of animals, they don’t get too much time to spend long hours on screen. Rather they stay involved in diverse physical activities which are beneficial for their health.
Risks of pets for children
Although there are a lot more advantages to raising children around animals, pets can pose risk to your child’s health and safety including medical and others. The injuries or illness are caused by pets to children are as follow:
– bites and scratches
– knocked by the pet
– choking on pet toys or food
– allergies or asthma caused by animal fur, saliva, feathers, or skin flakes
– diseases and infections that can go from animals to humans generally by poo, food, water, and debris trays
– difficulty in breathing and asphyxiation from a pet lying close to your child’s face
Never be late to talk to your doctor if you face any health or injury issues.
Safety concerns of pets or animals around children
Children become ill easily from germs that animals can carry because their immune systems are in the process of developing. But there’s good news! You can take the following steps to keep your kids healthy while still enjoying animals!
– Always supervise children around animals.
– Don’t allow children to kiss animals, put their hands or other things into their mouths while handling animals.
– Make sure to wash children’s hands properly with soap and water if they touch, feed, or care for animals or clean their habitats.
– Don’t forget to wash your hands before breastfeeding or making food for the baby.
– Keep children away from animals while they are eating so that you can save them from the risk of bites or other injuries.
Source: United News of Bangladesh