Human Animal Bond Research Initiative (HABRI) and The Pet Care Trust (PCT) have awarded a combined grant of $130,000 to American Humane to study the impact on children of animals in the classroom.
It is believed that students with a classroom pet will experience increased social skills, improved academic competence and decreased competing problem behaviours compared to students who do not have a classroom pet.
The second phase study, titled Pets in the Classroom (PIC): What are the Social, Behavioral, and Academic Effects of Classroom Pets for Children, 8-10 years?, will examine approximately 650 students and parents, as well as 46 teachers from 23 US third and fourth grade classrooms over the course of a nine-month school year.
Students, teachers and parents will complete questionnaires three times throughout the study period to measure the social, behavioural, and academic effects of classroom pets and human-animal relationships on children.
“Animals are common in today’s elementary school classrooms, and we are learning more and more about their positive impact on child well-being and development,” principal investigator Dr. Amy McCullough, American Humane National Director of Research and Therapy said in a release.
“This study will provide meaningful insight on the broad impact of child and animal relationships and help prepare schools and teachers with the responsibilities necessary to support the humane and effective incorporation of pets in classrooms and curricula.”
The first phase of the PIC Study concluded in May 2015 and was supported by The Pet Care Trust, which operates the popular Pets in the Classroom grant program.
The first phase surveyed and interviewed teachers on their perspectives regarding the main benefits, challenges and uses of their classroom pets, which ranged from fish to guinea pigs, hamsters, bearded dragons, and others.
“The Pet Care Trust established the Pets in the Classroom educational grant program to provide children with an opportunity to interact with pets,” said Steve King, Executive Director of the Pet Care Trust and President of the Pet Industry Distributors Association.
“Anecdotally, we know that incorporating pets in the classroom teaches life lessons of empathy and responsibility and helps shape students’ lives for years to come. This study will further advance the scientific data behind the benefits of the program to help it expand its reach so that more and more children can experience the benefits of the human-animal bond.”
HABRI has also announced funding to three other research projects:
- The Effect of Animal-Assisted Intervention on Preoperative Anxiety and Dose of Sedation in Children (University of Tennessee, Knoxville)
- Measuring the Impact of a Mutually Reinforcing Relationship Between Pet Owners and Their Pets (Lincoln Memorial University).
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