How Pet Ownership Helps Children Develop Responsibility
So I usually talk about school-related things, but I know we’re all getting ready to head back to school and are probably on “overload” right now, so I’m doing a 180 for this one!
Fortunately for me, I have always grown up with all kinds of different animals. My Mom always felt it was a great educational tool for my brother and I learn study, learn, and be involved in the caretaking of creatures. Right now, I have an iguana, a desert tortoise, a musk turtle, 2 cockatiel birds, 2 small dogs, 2 cats, 2 Peruvian guinea pigs, and 2 beta fish. In the past, I have had a variety of different kinds of lizards, frogs, mice, rats, chinchillas, dwarf rabbits, and even crabs.
Of course, parents are sometimes reluctant to let their children have pets because let’s face it – we all know how it works…at first, we’re obsessed with our pets – at least for the first few days or maybe even weeks if they’re lucky. Then, once the “newness” wears off, we’re back to our everyday oblivion. Parents usually get saddled with taking over the care of neglected pets, and that’s what they’re trying to avoid!
One suggestion would be to start small. A beta is great, for instance. My beta is in a small fish tank that I can clean very easily. And they don’t eat very much at a time, so the small can of fish flakes lasts pretty much its whole life! And betas come in different varieties and beautiful colors, too. Want something you can hold onto? You might want to look at getting a rat, hamster, or guinea pig. But they do require more cost to setup and daily caretaking.
One part that I always found fun was that my Mom incorporated my brother and I into really learning about each and every one of our animals…where do they originate from? What kind of habitat are they used to? What is the temperature of where they’re from? What kinds of foods do they eat? What’s unique about them? What are their habits? The more you really know about your pet, the more you care and the more vested you are in taking care of it.
In actuality, the frogs and lizards were probably the easiest to take care of. Granted, it was expensive to set up their terrarium, but once we did, it was like its own little eco-system! If your child is getting a pet for the first time, I would suggest you start small and simple and see how they do. And I suggest you look into the local animal shelters. I’m not sure how other places are, but here, our shelters also have birds, guinea pigs, and an occasional reptile…save a life!
Having to take care of a living thing definitely teaches and instills responsibility and global stewardship in children. Animals are becoming extinct left and right – let your child do their part in learning how to take care of living things we share this Earth with – all the while learning valuable life lessons they will be able to use well into adulthood.
