Why we should introduce Pet/Animal care in our classrooms
I have always wondered why there isn’t one class or subject in our schools which teach us how to care for a Plant or Pet. As humans, our relationship with the animal and plant kingdom is so symbiotic that it begs the question why don’t we spend more time learning how to contribute. Its true, a recent research says while Humans represent a meager 0.01% of all living things in this world, yet, we have wiped out 83% of wild mammals and half of the plants. Is this Ignorance or arrogance. We say both. But a large part of this can be addressed with the right education just like how we approach a lot of the other topics..
A study conducted by PFMA Pet Food Manufacturing Association among 2,500 adults and 400 teachers showed that 89% of adults, 78% of primary teachers and 70% of secondary teachers felt its very important to include pet care in the school curriculum. In fact, most adults felt teaching about Pet /Animal Care was more important than a class about Sex education or Money Management
Why aren’t we taught and what aren’t we taught
Schools do an otherwise wonderful job at kindling the inquisitive brains, imparting education and preparing us for life. This education, however, is largely aimed at preparing people for jobs or careers and not for life. The jury is still out on whether the education system needs a workup based on the ever-changing world ( most the world still follows education system designed for the industrial era, to churn out workers at a pretty rapid speed). Keeping this in mind its hardly a debate as to why schools don’t take to teaching you life skills or subjects like Animal or plant care unless its a college dedicated for that e.g a veterinary or Agricultural school.
No school going kid today would know what to do after he places a seed in the mud or what he needs to do when he sees a sick puppy on the road or even what to do when he sees a human who just had a cardiac arrest on the road ( for the ones who just got interested in this, here is a handy video which will help you save someone someday ). How to Perform CPR
Not just schools but even the parents don’t see any use of imparting these essentials to their children. Can’t blame them, this is years of conditioning at work.
Why teaching pet care goes beyond just that
The sight of kids pelting stones at a weak dog on the road or gathering around a weak puppy and tying tins on its tail and chasing it for the pleasure of it is all quite disheartening and these are very common sights. Some kids go to the extent of tying crackers on the tails of helpless animals and watch them run for the fear of their life. The sheer numbers of reported animal cruelty cases are alarming and are ever increasing. With not many hardened laws to protect the animals ( yes we say hardened laws because you have never heard of someone being jailed for life or hanged cos they killed an animal ) the way you can torture them is only limited by any one’s imagination Teaching children about animal care goes way beyond the core proposal of caring for them. It teaches them.
Respect
The world needs this more than ever, with so many hate crimes and intolerance, teaching kids about respecting animals instills in them a sense of respect. It gets enraged in their minds that true respect is treating people /Animals fairly even when they have nothing to offer in return or when they are way below you in many aspects.
The True measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good ” — Samuel Johnson
Compassion and Love
Kids need to learn compassion at a very early age and what best than to introduce them to our friends in the animal kingdom to learn this. When his see and learn about the animals in their natural environment they tend to understand their role in protecting an helping these animals who are otherwise quite helpless. Example when the kid sees a frail dog who hasn’t eaten in days because she cannot leave the sight of her newborns, he understands his role in the world of helping the mother with food till her babies are old enough to go fend for themselves. Have no two thoughts, the same kind will grow up to show the same compassion to other humans in need
Compassion for animals is intimately associated with goodness of character, and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man.” ― Arthur Schopenhauer
Strengths
Learning about animals and their weakness helps them appreciate their strengths better. The very thought that as humans we are blessed with so many physiological and physiological faculties that help us navigate the complex world in comparison to the animals who are most at the mercy of nature gives the kids an acute sense of their own capabilities and strengths and how to use them better
Courage
Children develop a lot of confidence when they stand up for the cause they believe in and act upon what they feel is right. When they see their classmates pelt a dog with stones or chase a kitten till its exhausted and gets cornered, the kids will know better to stand up and stop the cruelty if they have been taught that it’s their duty to protect the animals and not just indulge in petty and cruel pleasures. This courage takes them a long way later in life to stand up to things like bullying, harassment and even to workplace stress and chaos
Larger than Life
An introduction to the animal kingdom, their sufferings and also to the people who are working towards alleviating them fills the children with a larger than life perspective. They become aware that there is much more to life than just growing up to work and earn. Most of the social reformers we know of had their lives purpose defined at a very early age based on incidents they were exposed to during their early days
Careers
And if you want to really stick to the traditional model of “ learning for Job” then you wouldn’t be disappointed. Learning about animals and plants can also open up venues and careers in this space for children. Veterinarians are one of the most highly paid professionals across the world and they enjoy life. we know this from our interactions with a lot of them personally and above all from our favorite author James Herriot who said
“At times it seemed unfair that I should be paid for my work; for driving out in the early morning with the fields glittering under the first pale sunshine and the wisps of mist still hanging on the high tops”.
If not in schools we urge parents to make it a point to introduce children to the world of animals through stories and also through live examples like feeding the strays in the streets , teaching them not to harm them , show them how they can contribute to the society, become volunteers in various organizations representing animals causes. An occasional visit to the Zoo or a sympathetic look at a shared video on a social network won’t do the trick. Try getting them closer and educating them and you will see their character transform, that’s our word and you can take us up on it.
In the words of Dennis Prager “Goodness is about character — integrity, honesty, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like. More than anything else, it is about how we treat other people.”
Thanks to @our.indian.street.angels Sangeeta & Ravi from Mumbai who stroked this idea in our conversation.
Originally published at www.pawedy.com on October 31, 2018.
