Children Can Learn From Having a Pet, Spock Says

Dr. Benjamin Spock believes that children can learn a lot from having a pet as long as the care of the animal does not become a family pet peeve.

The benefits range from improved social skill to increased feelings of self-worth, Spock wrote in the current issue of Redbook, but there also is a downside for parents.

“There’s no question parents of young children do have to oversee a pet’s care,” Spock wrote, “and if parents aren’t prepared to get involved, they should veto the idea without guilt, at least for a few years.”

Spock suggested the average child under the age of 3 or 4 is not mature enough to care for an animal. Not only are children of that age too young for responsibility, but they may be too immature to control their angry impulses.

He noted that some pets require more care than others. Many children yearn for a dog because of its playfulness, but dogs should not be left alone for extended periods of time and must be walked and fed regularly.

Cats require less care since they do not have to be taken outside, but they can be less friendly companions. The same is true of guinea pigs, hamsters and birds. But, Spock wrote, children are found to fall in love with whatever pet you allow them to have.

The benefits of a pet start with the care-taking aspect, which Spock said can be a boon to developing social skills.

“By learning--with a parent’s guidance--to play gently with a pet, children can develop compassion and are likely to transfer their understanding to playmates,” Spock wrote. “Whenever children can successfully carry out new tasks, such as caring for an animal, they learn they are competent individuals.

“It’s experiences such as these that help them feel good about themselves.

“Parents can reinforce these benefits by looking for opportunities to praise their child for taking such good care of his or her pet.”

When the novelty wears off, children may become lax in caring for pets and parents must remind them, in a gentle rather than scolding manner, that animals have very real needs to be fed, walked and exercised.

The pediatrician warned that it is not a good solution for a parent to take over care of the pet because that teaches the child it can get others to assume its responsibilities.