How To Raise Children Who Are Friends To Animals
With the climate crisis and the environmental damage the world is seeing nowadays, raising your children to be kind to nature and all its inhabitants is more important than ever.
Animals can sometimes be a source of fear for children. There’s the classic fear of spiders, and for some, dogs, but other animals can make children a little afraid too. Maybe the large stature of a horse can frighten a child, or the irrational fear that there will be a shark in the swimming pool.
Introducing your children to animals when they are young, and introducing them in the right way, should mean they don’t develop these fears. Instead, you’ll be teaching them to respect, love, and be kind to animals, whether they are a small bug or a big giraffe.
Introduce them to animals at an early age
Introducing your children to an animal at a young age is key, because you can nip any fears in the bud. By making a good first impression, you can set your children up for a lifelong love for animals.
It can be smart to start with easy animals, like domesticated dogs and cats. These are animals that your children will see frequently, and who are cute enough for any kid to fall in love with. You might want to introduce them to these animals in a familiar setting, like your back garden, or at the park. Maybe borrow a friend’s dog or cat, so your children can recognise the familiar human face, and therefore trust the animal a bit more.
Learn facts about animals
Maybe even before meeting an animal for the first time, it can be helpful to teach your kids about animals. There are plenty of picture books that teach young children then names of animals and what they look like.
You could also make learning about animals fun by teaching them cool facts, like how fast a cheetah can run or types of good luck animals from around the world.
By doing this, your child should have a connection to animals before they even meet them.
Set a good example
When meeting animals, it’s essential that you, as a parent, set a good example. If you look scared around a spider or squeamish around a worm, your children will copy your behaviour. Your children look up to you massively; a large part of children’s development is learning by copying those around them. Therefore, you have to be so careful when you react to certain animals.
Instead of reacting negatively, ensure you look interested in the animal, happy to be there, and careful when petting them. This way, your children will copy your positive attitude and respect towards the animals.
Be clear about the rules.
Photo by Mcconnmama on Pixabay
When meeting different animals, there will be different rules. For the most common animals your child will interact with – dogs and cats – there are a few key rules you need to teach your child to respect.
For one, teach your children not to squeeze these animals, instead stroke them. Squeezing dogs and cats can make the animal panic and feel unsafe.
Similarly, pulling on cats’ or dogs’ ears should never be allowed. This is something that a lot of children naturally do, so as the parent, you need to watch out for this and explain that it’s not okay.
Animals can also get scared by loud noises, like screaming or shouting. Your child might feel the instinct to do this because they are excited, but the loud noise can frighten pets.
Then, for the safety of your children, you need to impress upon them that they mustn’t get in a dog or cat’s face. This might cause a dog or cat to bite your child, which is a memory that might make them afraid when they grow up. In addition, especially with dogs, tell your kids not to run away from the dog. A dog is a natural predator, and when they see a child running away from them, these instincts will kick in, and they could end up chasing your child. Of course, the dog is just trying to have fun, but it can be scary for a young child.
Teach them to seek permission
One of the most important rules for your children to learn is to seek permission before petting an animal. For example, if you are out for a walk and see a dog, your children might want to run up and stroke the dog. But you should always seek permission from the owner first.
You and your children don’t know the dog; their owner does. Their owner might know what mood the dog is in, and therefore if they are safe to pet. The dog might also be a service dog, in which case, they should never be petted when they are working.
By seeking permission, you are also teaching your children about respect for animals and that they aren’t there for consumption by human beings but are their own beings too.
Conquer any fears of animals
If, as we just discussed, something goes wrong and your child does develop a fear of an animal, you need to help them get over that fear. There are plenty of methods for getting over a fear; finding the right kind is what you must figure out as a parent.
One popular trick is exposure therapy. This is the kind of method where someone who is afraid of spiders might be made to hold one. The thought is that by facing your fear, you will figure out that it’s actually not that scary after all. However, this kind of method can be distressing for some children, so you, as a parent, need to figure out what is the right approach for your children.
Getting over fear is a difficult task, so remember to be patient, and praise your children for trying at least.
Look after animals
Photo by Nastya_gepp on Pixabay
Once your children have been introduced to pets and have found ways not to be afraid of them, the next step is to teach them how to look after animals.
This might come in the form of having a pet. You can keep lots of animals as pets: from the traditional dog or cat to rarer pets, like birds, lizards, or guinea pigs.
Having a pet is a great way to learn about taking care of animals because these actions will be built into your children’s everyday routines. They know they have to feed the pet, walk the pet, and spend time with the pet.
It teaches your children important life lessons, like responsibility. Knowing that if they don’t feed the cat, it will suffer, your children should come to understand the important role humans play in keeping animals alive, whether that’s a house cat or endangered species like rhinos.
If you can’t have a pet for whatever reason, there are other ways to teach your children to look after pets. If you have a garden, you can put out a bird feeder for birds. Alternatively, you could take your children to volunteer at an animal shelter. Or, you could offer to pet sit for friends, or even just pop around for a visit and offer to walk their dog.
Respecting animals will make your children better people.
By learning to love and respect animals, your children will grow up to be more responsible, caring adults. Being kind to animals isn’t hard, but it will help out society and the environment in a time when the planet really needs our help.
