Pets in the Classroom, a Good Thing or Bad?

I think keeping pets in classroom is not a good idae. coz first of all students wil not be able to concentrate on their studies well and secondaly pets will create a mess. so teachers should try to schedule a separate class in which they can bring pets and teach students about them. otherwise there should be a separate place for keeping pets on regular basis in the schools like labs are created for experiments etc.

You bring up some excellent points. I remember in my kindergaarten class we had I believe a hampster, but I can't remember for certain. And as well as my memory serves my I can't seem to remember many points regarding the care or treatment of that animal. But based on the ponts you have brought up, I think I'm going to have to agree with you in this regard. Especially on the point about the allergies. In our world, due to a plethora or reasons, allergies run rampant in the lives of both children and adults, and you will never be able to guarantee that all of the children in a classroom will be free of those animal or hay allergies and you'll never guarantee that children will not develop allergies to those things. Therefore the fate and care of these animals are not certain and should not be in that situation. I do like the idea of donating to and then going to experience humane societies. It seems like a much better approach to care and awareness of animals.

I like the "idea" of pets in the classroom, but in practice, I don't think it's a good idea for the very reasons you stated. I remember in grade three, we raised chicks from eggs (in an incubator) and when they were still small and *cute*, some of the children took them home. I can only imagine what happened to those poor animals. My mother objected to the school, the principal and the school board when we were sent home with permission slips to be signed by parents so that kids could bring one of the chicks home. At the time I didn't realize why she was so upset, but I also came from a family where all animals were cared for and never were mistreated, so the idea that someone would not properly care for a pet (or otherwise) was completely foreign to me. Being an adult now, however, I know that not everyone has the same values and respect for living creatures that I do. About the only pet I'd consider "okay" for the classroom would be fish (as they wouldn't be sent home with children) or perhaps pets that are brought into the school on special occasions, for teaching purposes, etc. (Like the travelling "zoos" that our local children's museum has every few months.)If schools are to have animals, they should be housed in a separate room and not in the classroom, and someone should be employed specifically to care for them. Children could be involved in their care, but in a supervised situation, such as a "pet club". This is the only scenario that I would ever (now) consider okay. One school that my mother used to work at had pets (yes, she works for the same school board that so many years ago she fought with over this)and the animals were very well cared for by a vet technician. However, the school was also for special needs children and the animals were part of the therapy program for many students, so they received better care than most classroom pets usually receive.

Probably no, because the kids could end up hurting the poor animal :(

I have worked in a class with handicapped children as well as children with sever behavior problems. we used animals in these classes as therapy for the children. and yes if a child was allergic one year the pet was removed from the class. In fact we as teachers kept the animal at our own homes over the weekend and the parents even chipped in for vet care for it. animals have been proven as wonderful therapy for handicapped, behaviorly challenged and the elderly. where you have brought up so many good points not every one is like that

i think it is bad. the little children are very easy-exciting. usually, you dont know when he or she will excites and do es some things hurting to others. when they are in good emotion,they will love the pets kindly,but maybe sudddenly they can be angry to do some hurts to it . what can you do after that? nothing. i think. though you can give them teaching but the pets has been hurt.

I think it is wonderful that children get to know animals. They don't always get the opportunity to at home. But they do need to be taught how to handle them.

I think having pets in the classroom is a bad idea unless it is a class related to animals or animal care. Animals in the classroom are too much of a distraction and the kids would never get any work done if this were to happen. I agree that some kids or students may also have allergies to certain animals so it would not be good for them either. Plus the animals may make a mess in the room or make too much noise. I think it is better not to have animals in the classroom.

I think it depends. Mostly on the teacher. We had two guinea pigs back in 5th grade, which actually got me into them. Back then, It seemed they were well loved/taken care of. They were also allowed to go out during recess, go home on weekends, etc. On the other hand, I had two guinea pigs dumped on me a few years ago. They were classroom pets. They had a filthy cage that wasn't cleaned all summer (GROSS!). She gave them to someone who thought it'd be "okay" to dump them in the wild. Luckilly I got ahold of him before he did that. Ugh.

I think in general it is not a good idea. While I was on a prac for a teaching degree, I was talking about sea creatures and underwater habitats. I took in our siamese fighting fish and we all discussed what they eat, their fighting tendancies and other types of fish (fresh or salt water) My son's kinder class has a pet budgie that comes home to each child's house on weekends if they want. I think it ios good to teach them responsibility in cleaning the cage and feeding them. Plus the family can understancd that owning a pet is a full time job and responsibility!!!

I used to think it was ok, but now after reading your post, I changed my mind. You brought up some very interesting points. I do like the idea of the kids donating to the humane society and having experts come in to teach the kids about animal care.

i only had one teacher who had a pet in the class. in that case it was a rabbit. we all loved it. the rabbit did belong to the teacher and went home with her everyday. i'm sure if someone had allergies or it botherd someone she would have taken it home. i think its up to the teachers, i don't think they mistreat the animals i think they;re just trying to teach the kids something, and most kids love the animals. from what i've seen any teacher who's brought an animal to school took very good care of it. but i can't talk for all teachers.

I like the idea of the donations to the shelter then having pets brought in. As a teacher I can say that many of my co-workers did not take care of the animals, but then again, many of them did. But, as it is the individual teachers classroom they are ultimately responsible for the care of the animal in that classroom. You, (the teacher) is there to teach, not push the responsibility of the animal off on students or parents.. if the teacher isn't willing to take responsibility of the animal seriously then they do not need to have the animal in the classroom. As far as rabbits on wire.... we have a rabbitry with over 70 rabbits in it. All are housed on wire BUT each rabbit has a 'foot rest' pad in their cage to help prevent sore feet. Also, we work hard to breed good feet into our rabbits. If we have an animal that seems to have particularly thin skin on their feet we do not breed that animal, instead it is placed into a pet home.

I think pets in the classroom is a great idea. You can teach kids how to be responsible. And having to take care of animals gives kids a chance to feel important and have a sense of accomplishment. And the pets get a break from the kids from early afternoon until the next morning!

class room is a place for us to study! so that is a bad thing to put a pet in the classroom@