Argumentative Essay: The Effects Dogs Have On Children

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The Effects Dogs have on Children

The benefits that dogs provide for children are many, most people don’t realize some of them. Children build many important characteristics from owning a dog all the way from responsibility to learning how to act towards others. Many families with children have dogs, but others are unsure whether it is a good choice for their family. Children receive many social benefits from owning a dog and taking care of it. Dr. Patrick Skerrett quotes Dr. Elizabeth Frates, assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Frates said that she knew very few people in her new community until she got her dog and started taking frequent walks. Taking dogs for walks can lead to more social interactions through conversations started by just asking to pet a dog. Daniel Goleman relayed information discovered by Psychologists at Oregon State University who conducted a study on preschoolers. The researchers “found that teaching and caring for a puppy …show more content…

Pets can be therapeutic for children who don’t have much emotional support at home, as they can become a sense of comfort to a child in this type of situation. Goleman quotes Dr. Yolande Michaels, a psychologist in Venice, California, who said that pets helped the children who were disregarded at home feel calm and prevented them from feeling alone. Barbara Wood, a clinical social worker at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio conducted a study for children who needed therapy for a medical condition (Goleman). Dr. Wood split up the children involved in the study into two groups. Dogs were introduced to play with one half of the children during their therapy sessions. The other half had normal therapy sessions. “Those who had the therapy with a pet improved on key areas of measurement like the ability to control their impulses and understand others, while those who received normal therapy got worse

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