Pets are being used in schools to train students to improve their intellectual skills. Most studies indicate that the training programs have a positive effect on the mental health of the children. Many children have mental disorders that result in delayed language and speech. The pets contribute to childhood improvement among the kids because they achieve the milestones in time. Development psychology has looked at the importance of pets on the mental health of children. The topic has been a significant issue in the field of psychology which has prompted me to carry out my analysis of the area. The pets can be a solution to mental disorders and cognitive development of children. All schools should use pet training programs to supplement their learning facilities for useful results of their goals.
Background Information
Levison, the founder of animal therapy programs, stated that pets contributed to the sanity of human beings. Levison experimented with the effectiveness of animal therapy with a young boy who could not speak. After several training sessions, the boy started to speak due to the reduction of anxiety ( Schretzmayer, Kotrschal & Beetz, 2017) . Pets are friendly and provide cognitive, emotional, physiological, and psychological support to children. The interaction of children and pets has improved their cognitive and mental well-being. The animal therapies have been incorporated in schools to assist the children in reading, improving their literacy levels, and reduce stress. Pets are essential for childhood development because they support children to achieve their milestones. Children with mental disorders can recover after interacting with dogs. Dogs help in improving the brain functions of children at an early age. They increase the levels of dopamine and serotonin in the brain which results in its activation. The animal programs are provided in schools to aid the children developing their learning skills. The therapy programs that are common include the dog training programs because they can be tamed.
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Literature Review
Pets assist in enhancing the literacy of children. Many children have challenges in reading and schools implement animal programs to improve their literacy skills. In most schools, reading with dogs has become familiar to develop the student's experience (Purewal et al., 2017). Dogs promote learning as a result of enhancing the pupils' mental well-being. The verbal and non-verbal communication experiences of children are improved due to the interaction with animals (Hall, Gee & Mills, 2016) . The second-grade students who read out loud to dogs improve their learning experience as compared to those who read to adults. The study conducted by Schretzmayer, Kortschal, and Beetz indicated that children who learned with dogs improved their performance on reading. The study revealed that the students who read alone did not improve their learning skills. When dogs in the learning environment accompany pre-school children, they are quick, independent, and attentive when carrying out their school work. The elementary school pupils follow instructions and make appropriate choices after enrolling in animal training programs. The study revealed that pets are not effective in improving the pupils’ vocabulary. The outcome of the study indicated that children with severe reading problem improved in the short-term. Although the effects of animal programs were short, they occurred immediately ( Schretzmayer, Kotrschal & Beetz, 2017) . The pets enhance the literacy levels in children in the elementary schools. Children can speak full sentences and comprehend information at an early age. The education performance of children increases due to the rise in concentration levels.
The reading Education Program assists children with learning challenges. Most classroom settings use dogs to train the students. Dogs help the teachers to attain the education goals set in the schools (Zents, Fisk & Lauback, 2017) . One of the learning goals can be the pronunciation of specific words that can be a challenge to the children. Children have problems in spelling words that begin with the consonant “s.” The teachers give the therapy pet as a reward for the children who pronounce the words correctly. The experience and confidence of the students are improved when the teacher requests them to order the therapy animal to “sit.” The inactive children became active as a result of engaging with pets (Hall, Gee & Mills, 2016) .
Source: ( Schretzmayer, Kotrschal & Beetz, 2017)
Pets reduce stress among the children because they do not give non-judgmental support. Highlight involves obstruction of learning, meditation, and concentration through the interference of the significant functions of the brain. Children can have stress due to isolation from their parents, and they have to be all alone. Stress affects the cognitive functions which include meditation, control of impulse, and self-motivation. The reduction of stress results in improved learning. The communication of individuals with animals results in the rise of dopamine and serotonin which are related to brain activation, attentiveness along with concentration. The children interactions with pets increase their levels of dopamine and serotonin which lead to the activation of the brain. The brain of the young children develops as a result of an established communication with their pets. The interaction of children with animals has decreased stress levels on difficult subjects such as mathematics. The communication with dogs lowers adverse reactions systolic and diastolic blood levels among students when carrying out hard tasks. Animals increase neuro-chemicals that assist children in relaxing and forming relationships with their colleagues (Hinkert, 2013). The children who have their pets at home get an opportunity to interact with them which improves their brain functions at an early stage.
Children may be interested in research and development in the future because they can get encouragement to learn more about animals. The children develop an interest in analyzing livestock after they interact with them for some time. Animals improve the cognition of children which increases their motivation on researching after they attain the required education level. The pets develop analytical skills among children who contribute to research and innovation in their area of specialization (Zents, Fisk & Lauback, 2017) . Pets enhance creativity in children which leads to the development of the research field.
Pets are useful in treating mental disorders among children with disabilities. Animal-assisted therapies are used in pediatrics to give treatment to children with mental disorders. Pets help in reducing post-traumatic stress and attention deficit hyperactive disorders. The animals lessen the stress levels and restore the brain functions that are affected by PTSD. The animal therapies assist in healing autistic disorders. Autism affects the language, speech, and neurodevelopment of children. The animal-assisted training programs help in the improvement of cognitive functions in children with autism. Children with autism behave in a different way when they interact with animals (Wright et al., 2015). The study found out that pets assist children in decreasing depression and learning challenges. Animals support children with autism to develop communication skills and language. The results of the study indicated that pets reduce stress and improve the mental well-being of students with intellectual disabilities (Ries, 2013). Animals can be used as part of treating children with mental disorders for them to recover.
Pets assist children in developing the child development milestones. Children attain their childhood roles at an early because they copy some of the behaviors portrayed by animals. They can comprehend at an old age because they talk to their pets most of the time. The children follow instruction and can make complete sentences after they interact with the pets. Besides, the children become attentive, and their concentration is high in their childhood development stage. The pets assist the children to achieve their milestones which could have attained during adolescence. They also help in building the confidence of the child which is likely to be achieved in the adolescent stage under standard conditions (Bachi and Parish-Plass, 2017) . The association of children with pets helps them to achieve the emotional, social, and cognitive function in the childhood stage.
Recommendations
Concerning the study conducted, the following recommendations can be made:
Parents should buy pets for their children at an early stage of three years to improve their intellectual capacity.
All elementary schools and day-care facilities should have animal therapy programs that will assist in meeting the learning goals such as pronunciation of words.
The government should formulate laws for the schools to implement animal programs to improve the learning outcomes.
The middle and high school should have animal programs that will assist in the mental development of students. The training programs have short-term effects on the students.
Pediatrics should have animal therapy programs that should be part of the treatment of children with mental disorders.
The individual needs schools should have animal programs that will assist the mentally disabled students to recover from their conditions.
Conclusion
Pets are useful in developing the intellectual levels of children. The concentration and attentiveness of children improve as a result of their interactions with the pets. Pets enhance the learning experiences of children; reduce stress, depression, and anxiety. The brain functions of children improve after they interact with their pets. Most studies reveal that interactions with pets have positive psychological consequences. All schools should incorporate pet training programs to make sure they meet their education goals in time. The pet programs assist the children to achieve their developmental milestones. Daycares and special learning facilities should have pets to support the young children to recover from their mental disorders. Animal programs can be used in hospitals as treatment of mental disorders.
References
Bachi, K., & Parish-Plass, N. (2017). Animal-assisted psychotherapy: A unique relational therapy for children and adolescents.
Hall, S. S., Gee, N. R., & Mills, D. S. (2016). Children reading to dogs: A systematic review of the literature. PloS one , 11 (2), e0149759.
Hinkert, C. L. M. (2013). The influence of dogs and cats on the mental health and emotional wellbeing of their owners in the Netherlands (Master's thesis).
Purewal, R., Christley, R., Kordas, K., Joinson, C., Meints, K., Gee, N., & Westgarth, C. (2017). Companion animals and child/adolescent development: a systematic review of the evidence. International journal of environmental research and public health , 14 (3), 234.
Ries, A. E. (2013). The Effect of Animal-Assisted Therapy on Children with Disabilities.
Schretzmayer, L., Kotrschal, K., & Beetz, A. (2017). Minor immediate effects of a Dog on children are reading Performance and Physiology. Frontiers in veterinary science , 4 , 90.
Wright, H., Hall, S., Hames, A., Hardiman, J., Mills, R., PAWS Project Team, & Mills, D. (2015). Pet dogs improve family functioning and reduce anxiety in children with autism spectrum disorder. Anthrozoös , 28 (4), 611-624.
Zents, C. E., Fisk, A. K., & Lauback, C. W. (2017). Paws for intervention: Perceptions about the use of dogs in schools. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health , 12 (1), 82-98.
