The Best Medicine
Dogs Can De-Stress College Students
It happens every semester: the final exam week stress of students all around college campuses. With classes drawing to a close and students beginning to study for final exams, many become overwhelmed and sometimes the anxiety can become unbearable. The best solution to the growing problem of stressed college students across the country is therapy dogs. They are the best medicine to relax students and give them a nice study break. Even though therapy dogs have gained popularity among college campuses, I believe that the service is still not widespread and adopted enough. Yes there are many colleges and universities that utilize therapy dogs, but this beneficial service should definitely be promoted more across college campuses. If therapy dogs on campus become more popular, then our country will have more mentally healthy college students.
The Power of Dogs
College is a very different setting from home. While at home pets are common for families, at college, students rarely have pets if they are even permitted. When most college students even see a dog (especially a puppy) it immediately puts a smile on their face. What is even better is having the opportunity to pet a dog. At college people usually become so immersed with their studies that they can forget the simple joys in life that bring a smile, such as dogs. When students are with dogs, it is almost impossible to not smile when pampering them. Being with a dog allows many students to forget about the stresses of papers due or final exams. A therapy dog is like a companion for students that can cheer them up and brighten their day instantly because they are such cute and innocent creatures. Since dogs are usually peppy and social animals, they are like a source of instant happiness that students can pet and hug. The result of spending quality time with these beautiful animals is a de-stressed college student who is relaxed.
An Example
There are many colleges that currently utilize therapy dogs to de-stress their students, and one specific case covered by Jen Christensen of CNN is at Emory University. She reports that during finals week at Emory, about half a dozen dogs were taking two-hour shifts, [as] students line up to get ten minutes with them” (Christensen). There are the visual signs of students being relaxed by the dogs, such as people dropping their shoulders and smiling. Also, “scientific studies do show that canine interaction increases a human’s level of oxytocin, a hormone that reduces anxiety and blood pressure. [By] petting a dog…..people become less frightened, more secure and [it] diverts their attention away from their own fears or anxieties”(Christensen). The CNN report also notes that the excessive stress that students experience during finals impairs their memory. The activity of petting dogs relieves that stress, which improves the ability for students to retain what they are learning.
Relation to Instructional Support
It seems clear that therapy dogs are helpful to college students because they enable students to sit back and view the world in perspective. Therefore one can surmise that these therapy dogs also provide support to students during stressful times. This support is similar to a scientific study of Christina Haas in Learning to Read Biology: One Student’s Rhetorical Development in College. Haas’s study talks of the academic development of a college undergraduate biology student, Eliza who learned and grew through her four years in college. One way Eliza gained guidance was through instructional support where she was “exposed to different kinds of classes and assignments…provided by her teachers” which helped in her development (Haas 75). Eliza utilized the resources provided at her university to benefit her development into a successful biology student. The support of faculty and various assignments served to her advantage.
Similarly, college students in our country can receive instructional support in a different way: from therapy dogs. Just as Haas explains how Eliza succeeded from support, students can still succeed from the support of therapy dogs. The dogs are a valuable resource that can be advantageous to students who want to relax and regain a positive outlook. They help students develop mentally by reminding them of the ‘little things’ in life that count. As for Eliza, academics and professors were her source of support. For many college students, therapy dogs are their source of support in a different way. As a result, students are more confident and calm which leads to success, just like the case for Eliza.
Closing Remarks
Evidently, therapy dogs can be a valuable asset for colleges and universities across the country to help relax students. Dogs possess a unique capability to calm students and this has been scientifically proven. With more widespread therapy dogs at colleges, then this will benefit more students. Students will gain support from dogs while developing, just as Eliza gained instructional support in order to develop. I therefore encourage therapy dogs to be adopted at more universities and for students to take advantage of a great resource. During those stressful times of studying, the simple presence of a dog is truly the best medicine.
