Boston Globe 1/17/2002: In children's lives, animals can play key role

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Nice article on children and animals (from Boston Globe online) (fwd) [input]

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Found this on the Boston Globe

site:http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/017/at_home/In_the_lives_of_children_anim\

als_can_play_a_key_role+.shtmlHere's the text:CHILD CARINGIn the lives of

children, animals can play a key roleBy Barbara F. Meltz, 1/17/2002Ever wonder

why your 3-year-old gets more excited at the sight of your neighbor's dog than

at practically anyone else in her life? Orwhy your 5-year-old can discuss in

great detail the habitat preferences of spider, capuchin, macaque, squirrel,

guenon, marmoset,and tamarin monkeys? While some 6- and 7-year-olds work on

parents incessantly for Play Station, yours may never miss an opening toplead

for a dog, or a cat, or a guinea pig, or a lizard. Human beings, it is now

widely believed, are born with an affinity to animals that probably stems from

the days when our survival dependedon attentiveness to other species. This

theory, known as biophilia, was first put forth by Harvard University biologist

E.O. Wilson andit goes a long way toward explaining why children at very young

ages are so drawn to animals of all kinds.Capitalizing on the attraction,

parents and teachers have long used animals as a vehicle for learning in an

''A-is-for-alligator'' kindof way. ''Animals are a natural motivator,'' says

Alan Beck, director of the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue

University.But it's not just the alphabet that animals can teach. ''It is often

through animals that children first learn how to nurture. That theyhave their

first experience with love, loss, and loyalty,'' says developmental psychologist

Gail Melson, also a professor at Purdueand author of a fascinating new book,

''Why the Wild Things Are, Animals in the Lives of Children'' (Harvard

University Press).Melson says the child-animal connection is underresearched,

underestimated, and underutilized. It's not that every family needs apet, but

every child benefits from exposure to animals, she says, whether it's fish in a

bowl, pigeons in a park, or zebras at the zoo.''A lot of children growing up

today in our very fast-paced world don't have the inner skills to know how to

calm themselves. Animalscan slow you down and excite you at the same time,''

says Rebecca Reynolds Weil. She is executive director of Animals

asIntermediaries, a travelling program based in Concord that brings animals to

children in hospitals.Research shows that even just watching animals (including

goldfish) can lower blood pressure and lessen performance anxiety, promptingBeck

to advocate for animals in every classroom, kindergarten through high school.

Melson's research indicates animals can help childrenthrough stressful

transitions, such as divorce and death. Yet, although animals are used

increasingly with children in therapeuticsettings, Melson is surprised that the

benefits of animal-children relationships aren't better known generally.There

are three categories of animals - pets, farm, and wild - and exposure to each

group contributes differently to a child'sdevelopment. For the 60 to 75 percent

of American children who grow up with a pet, an animal becomes familiar and

known, enabling a childto make assumptions about it: Spot needs water, Spot's

tired, Spot wants to play.''That's powerful,'' says Weil. ''It builds a sense of

competency in any age child,'' but especially in 4- to 8-year-olds who

arestruggling to understand the perspective of others. An important caveat:

Despite your child's promises to the contrary, getting a pet does not mean she

will take responsibility for it.''Parents need to assume it will be their job,''

says Beck. Interestingly, however, one of Melson's studies shows that

whilechildren tend to spend less time caring for younger siblings as they grow

older, the time spent with pets tends to increase.''The typical 12-year-old

spends more time with the pet than he did at 8 or 9,'' she says, a finding that

makes sense when you thinkabout the emotional turmoil teenagers go through.

Even a caged guinea pig in a teenager's bedroom can be a source of emotional

support''just because it's a warm, live presence that doesn't talk back to you

and doesn't ask why you aren't doing your homework,'' saysMelson. That children

can find acceptance from an animal is a huge part of their value, notes Weil:

''Animals don't care what color achild's skin is or what he looks like or

whether he can read or not.''Indeed, Cambridge psychologist Carol Peacock, who

uses a dog as a cotherapist (her black Lab, Pepper, is a great ice breaker

withchildren who are reluctant to talk), recently advised the mother of two

teenage sons to get a pet. ''I see it as a transitional object, asecurity

blanket, for adolescents as they move toward independence,'' she says. Boys who

spurn physical and emotional closeness fromparents won't hesitate to cuddle with

a dog, she says. In addition, a pet can offer a conflict-free topic of

conversation between parentsand teenagers.With farm animals, there's the chance

to observe and learn about life's cycles, including daily routines. ''It brings

a sense ofsecurity and calm, as well as a straightforward connection to the food

chain,'' says Weil. With wild animals, there's a sense ofmystery in learning

about the unknown. ''It pulls out a different evocative part of us,'' she

says.Green Chimneys School in Brewster, N.Y., saw the benefits of all this 55

years ago when it began accepting troubled city children to the150-acre farm

that doubles as a residential treatment center. Fifteen years ago, psychologist

Paul Kupchok added a federally licensedwildlife center.''When the process works,

the children heal the [wild] animals and the animals heal the children,'' he

says. ''Animals work in two ways:They uplift a depressed child and focus an

anxious one.'' Green Chimneys is an international model for how animals can help

troubledchildren.Most children he sees have lost faith and trust in humans. As

they gain confidence to care for one of the 350 farm animals and anassortment of

wildlife, they gradually gain confidence in themselves, which leads them to

relate to other people in new ways and,hopefully, to learn to trust again. It

can seem like magic, says Kupchok, but when you wake up to the sound of roosters

and go tosleep to the sound of owls; when you look out the classroom window and

see your roommate leading a cow or riding a horse; when you helpnurse a wounded

hawk so it can return to the wild, the connections become metaphors for a

child's life.During one recent ''release ceremony,'' he says, a child who had

nursed a bird with a broken wing let it fly away and called outbehind it, ''I

wish you a good life. I hope you never have to come back here. Pretty soon, I'll

be going home, too!''Luckily, we don't have to move to a farm or adopt injured

wildlife for animals to work their magic with our own children.Bird feeders,

petting zoos, and duck ponds offer opportunities for conversation and

connections, says Weil. She encourages parents totake children on a winter walk

in the neighborhood, through a nature preserve or in the woods just to be able

to talk about where theanimals are in the winter. It's not something most

children normally think about.Fourteen-year-old Jackie Kustan, who lives west of

Boston, always thinks about animals. When she was younger, she played with

stuffedanimals, never dolls. By second grade, she was dubbed ''the bug girl'' by

teachers and classmates because she knew so much aboutthem. (Spiders and

grasshoppers were her favorites.) For the fourth-grade science fair, she sent

away for tadpoles, which grewinto five frogs. She still has three. (''They're

alive longer than we expected,'' she says.) In addition, she's caretaker of

three fish,one cat, one dog, and two parakeets. She hopes to be a vet.''I'm not

sure why I'm drawn to animals,'' she says. ''Maybe it's because they're easier

to understand than people.''This story ran on page H1 of the Boston Globe on

1/17/2002.© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.

 

 

 

 

 

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