Dogs are the new teachers' pets. A recent blog post on the New York Times website (the newspaper that owns this site) reported on dogs who live in -- and liven up -- private school classrooms. Unlike public schools, whose rules prohibit pooches in the classroom, private schools have the latitude-and luxury-to allow pets to share space with students. As a result, some fortunate private school students benefit from the joys of watching and caring for a dog, who at some schools, also functions as the mascot.
As the New York Times article reported, David Harman, the headmaster of Poly Prep Country Day School, located on 25 acres in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, owns a five-year-old Labrador retriever named Fenway. Students vie for the privilege of walking the dog, and, with a dog at his feet, the headmaster doesn't seem forbidding to kids who come into his office to visit with his dog. In this way, the dog facilitates communication between the headmaster and the students. Fenway's visit to a classroom has been purchased for as much as $1,000 at the school's fundraising auction. And at Hewitt, a girls' school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Maggie, also a Labrador retriever, walks the halls and takes her usual position on the staircase, observing the students who pass by.
The Benefits of Pets at School
Pets are not just a lark at school. There is actual scientific evidence that they help students feel more comfortable in school. According to Pets in the Classroom, a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., that provides grade-school teachers with grants to bring small animals and fish into classrooms, studies have shown that kids in classrooms with pets, even small animals like hamsters, have better attendance records than kids in classrooms without pets. Kids simply want to go to school to visit with pets and make sure their animals are doing well. In addition, research shows that children with pets in their families have better immunity. Pets may even encourage kids to do their homework! A survey cited by Pets in the Classroom showed that 53% of respondents liked doing homework when they were around pets. Taking care of a pet also teaches children responsibility.
Pets Improve Children's Behavior
When pets are introduced into the classroom, they may also reduce children's behavior problems. According to an article in the Daily Mail in the United Kingdom, a chocolate Labrador named Oscar has halved behavior problems at the Cantell Maths and Science College (a school). Students in the school who get into trouble are put into a secluded room with staff and with Oscar, rather than be punished. In the so-called "restorative approach" that the school follows, Oscar helps make angry or confused kids able to function again. Generally, once the dog spends a few minutes with a kid who has gotten into trouble, the kid is able to work again, and less academic time is lost to misbehavior.
Children with special needs or who attend special education schools may derive particular benefit from having a classroom pet. An animal in the classroom can help these students feel calmer and more confident as they learn, and a pet reduce behavioral problems. Students may feel more motivated and animated to learn, particularly about subjects related to animals, science, and the environment, as the pet is a real-life example of what they are learning. A pet also often helps to draw socially withdrawn or anxious children out of their shells, as they can easily connect with the animal and use it as a basis for connection and conversation with other students and teachers. In addition, a school pet can foster a greater sense of community in which students, parents, and teachers work together to care for the animal and in which vandalism, truancy, and other negative acts are discouraged because community members are cooperating to care for their animal.
