World Anti-Bullying Day: How can pets help fight bullying?

MEXICO CITY (apro).- Within the framework of the World Day against Bullying or Harassment at School (May 2), it is necessary to examine how to improve the mental situation of minors who suffer from it, as well as look for ways to reduce it. Living with pets like dogs and cats could be the key.

According to the Affinity Foundation, which is dedicated to raising awareness and research on the bonds between people, living with dogs and cats contributes to improving the emotional health of children who suffer bullying.

“Animals can help us in difficult times, providing us comfort and being those to whom we can tell things that we would not say to anyone else. Their ability to provide us with unconditional support becomes especially important in these situations,” said Jaume Fatjó, director of the Affinity Animals and Health Foundation Chair at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

“Living with an animal, which requires care and has needs, highlights our human capacity to help and receive help. This allows minors to feel useful, strengthening their self-esteem and self-acceptance. In addition, it motivates them to interact more with other people, thus improving their emotional health,” said Fatjó, according to “Portal Veterinaria.”

In addition, pets can help reduce bullying and the level of aggression in children and people, in general. The same Affinity Foundation has the “Respétame” program, which it developed in conjunction with the Lleó XIII school in Barcelona (Catalonia). This program consists of dog-assisted therapies whose main objective is to promote respect, prevent bullying and reinforce inclusion among students.

Likewise, in the United States there are several programs that encourage compassion and respect among children, through coexistence with dogs, with the aim of reducing bullying. In the state of Kansas there is a program called “No More Bullies”, which is carried out by volunteers, accompanied by trained dogs, to teach children about compassion and integrity.

“Children can easily identify with an animal. And it’s easy for them to make the transition when we ask them to consider how an animal feels (if abused) and how the child sitting near them feels (if abused),” she explained. Jo Dean Hearn, a former teacher who developed this program, according to “The Week” media.

The Healing Species program, founded a decade ago in South Carolina, uses rescue dogs to help children and teens recover from abuse and learn self-esteem, empathy and other values.

This organization was founded by Cheri Thompson, a criminal defense attorney who noticed two common traits in many of the violent criminals she had defended in her career: a lack of empathy and a history of childhood animal abuse.

Multiple studies support their observation and have pointed out a relationship between cruelty towards animals in childhood and cruelty towards humans in old age, as there is a prevalence of people who commit violent crimes and have little or no concern for thoughts and /or feelings of others, including animals, so these tend to be their first victims in many cases.

A study by Julie E. Sprinkle of Appalachian State University analyzed the Healing Species program and how it impacted the students who were part of it. Sprinkle’s work identified that, through this program, levels of empathy among students increased as levels of aggressive behaviors and beliefs decreased.