Class Pets: How they are improving classrooms day by day

For more students (and parents) now, the school years are coming to a close if they haven’t already. Students are graduating, kids are moving into older grades, and all in such an uncertain time in the world. One thing that stayed common among answers whenever parents and students were asked about the school year was the fact that there was an increase in class pets!

In the following literature, we will exploring some pretty amazing statistics on different aspects of classrooms, students, and how class pets were involved in all of the above.

These statistics may even convince you that pets should be in more places than just the classroom too.

Recent surveys show having class pets made drastic improvements in classrooms

Here’s what the Pets in the Classroom program had to say about all of this, first of all:

"“Pets provide, social, emotional, and academic benefits for children during remote learning, as well as in the classroom setting.”"

According to recent data from surveys conducted by MARS Petcare and the Pets in the Classroom grant program, class pets helped to improve classrooms within the 2019-2020 school year(s).

MARS Petcare Survey

Amount of People Surveyed: 2,000

Type of People: Parents

Location of Survey Participants: All across the UK and the US Here’s what the parents said

• 56% reported that having a pet helped their student(s) perform better in school
• 3 in 4 (or around 78%) stated pet interaction in school helped with anxiety levels
• 75% believed that pets helped students bond better with their classmates
• 80% believed that pet interaction should be used in school(s)
• 85% said that pet classroom programs are beneficial and necessary (to students)

Pets in the Classroom Survey

Amount of People Surveyed: 2,864

Type of People: Teachers

Location of Survey Participants: All across the US and Canada. Here’s what the teachers found!

• 98% increase in compassion and empathy (thanks to the class pets)
• 98% increase in student’s senses of responsibility
• 98% increase in student’s classroom engagement skill(s)
• 97% increase in student attendance
• 96% increase in social skills
• 95% decrease in student’s classroom anxiety
• 93% increase in student self-esteem
• 88% decrease in necessary student disciplinary measure(s)
• 76% increase in better test/academic performances

Interested in learning a little bit more about the Pets in the Classroom program? Well, here’s some more about them….

"“Established in 2010 by the Pet Care trust….opportunity to interact with pets, an experience that can help shape their lives for years to come….pre-kindergarten through 9th grade teachers in obth public and private schools….has brought classroom pets to over 181,000 classrooms, helping nearing 7 million students nationwide and in Canada….experience the joy and benefits of companion animals.”"

What are your thoughts on animals in the classroom? Let us know down below! How would your kids or students you know benefit from such a program(s)? Woof, Woof!