To think animal welfare should be added to the National Curriculum?

[SparkleSunshine201]

I was shocked to read that incidents of animal cruelty are increasing. I realise that educating children on animal welfare should start at home, but it's surprising that a number of children aren't being taught the basics, i.e. that animals have thoughts and feelings and can suffer and feel pain, just like us.

There is a petition about adding animal welfare to the national curriculum. I think it could really help children to be aware of how to treat animals humanely.

You can sign the petition here: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/170481

What do you think?

Definitely agree!

There's enough stuff to get through already!
Surely it would be more important to make child care/first aid part of the NC first.
Many people never come into contact with animals. Complete waste of time and (very limited) resources.

This is the sort of thing parents should teach their child at a young age, it is not the responsibility of the school. I think kids need to be taught how to treat people more humanely.

Totally agree and will sign the petition. I think fewer kids these days are exposed to live animals and have no idea how to interact with them in a way which is safe for both kids and animal. As an animal owner and lover myself, I see so many people who are clearly clueless about how to handle and treat animals (even if they are well intentioned) that I think some basic education would not go amiss at all.

And where exactly do parents come into this? Shouldn't we all be teaching our children not to harm other sentient beings? Ridiculous to expect schools to be further burdened with something that should already be part of normal parenting

Agree and will sign. The 'five welfare needs' are enshrined in law but barely anyone is aware of them. The PDSA have downloadable interactive info available for schools which is available from their website. I would urge any parents to inform their children's schools of the available resources. They also have community vet nurses who give talks in schools, not nearly enough of them though.

As much as I adore animals - no. Where are people where children don't get exposed to animals? Every child I know has a pet of some kind. It's yet another thing to opt out of as a parent. We do need to take some responsibility for raising our children, it's not up to the education system.

So what do you suggest teachers drop to make room for this? Maths, Music, PE maybe?

To be blunt kids don't need to be taught not to be cruel to animals - they already know. Just some do it anyway.

How many more hours would you like the children to be in school for to cover this (as well as the dozens of other life skills that some parents can't be arsed to teach their kids anymore)?

Ridiculous to expect schools to be further burdened with something that should already be part of normal parenting
The same could be said for sex ed, teaching tolerance and respect etc etc. The fact is not all children have lovely responsible parents and children who treat animals badly will likely come from homes where they've seen their parents behave in a similar manner. What's the harm in having a once a term chat about treating animals with respect and taking about their needs? If more people understood what their animals require for a happy and healthy life we'd see a lot less behavioural issues and a lot less dog bites.

It doesn't need to be added to the curriculum, per se.

It can just be something that schools decide if they want to teach.

Adding it to the curriculum - do people have any idea what this actually involves?

A once a term chat is a bit different from adding it to the curriculum.

I was never taught this stuff

I didn't need to be. I'm not sure animal cruelty is something you can educate out of people when the desire to do harm to someone or something is very complex. And part of who a person is.

There are books ,TV shows etc entry if resources that can tell you all you need to know.

I think that if many children never come into contact with animals, then it is important for them to be taught how to treat them Seeline. However I think many children do comes across dogs, cats and other pets at their friend's homes and do not know how to behave. Yes this should be taught by parents but sadly this is not always the case, as PartyPolitics pointed out. I agree that you could say the same thing about sex education, many subjects that one would consider basic knowledge are not being covered at home. Adding it to the curriculum can only be a good thing.

Thank you MrsExpo.

Glad you agree C4Envelope

Gileswithachainsaw but it's not always with an intent to do harm that animals get mistreated, it can be ignorance. Some children are not even aware that animals feel pain at all! This could help to educate children that animals are living beings that need to be treated with respect, whether that means not holding a pet cat upside or stroking their fur the wrong way, to approaching a dog correctly and safely (e.g. not coming at them from behind and stroking them before letting them sniff you).

YANBU to think this but some of this stuff is inate, for example I take on animals from rescues but only if I can offer them a home for life. Currently I have two cats, one Tortoise who will have to go in my Will to ensure he's cared for after I am gone and two turtles who will also go in my Will. I make sure they all have their requirements met. I have friends who think I am nuts though and who would rehome an animal if it became too much trouble. It's how I got the turtles...The then partner of my friend brought them into her home and didn't take them when he left ..telling her to "just chuck them in a lake somewhere". I took them instead...and have had them 18 months now.

What I'd like to see far more are sellers if animals being upfront about requirements, lifespan and costs.

Turtles need their tanks mucking out once a minth...and I do mean mucking out.

Tortoises need UVA and UVB lighting, vivariums are not suitable for them...they need a rabbit cage ideally mDe into a tortoise table.

And some breeds of tortoises (Salcuta for example) grow to be the HUGE ones you see in zoos. They should not be sold in my opinion.

It could be added as a PSHE topic for primary sxhool or something to be discussed during group tutorial at secondary. It wouldn't be hard to add it into the everyday teaching at schools and it'd be hugely beneficial for children and teachers alike. As a pp said, some children don't have access to animals, so their understanding of them is limited and they may not have the same level of respect for them as a child that's grown up with them would, so teaching about it at school would help in this case as the likelihood is, for children with no access to animals the parents are less likely to educate them on this matter at home. I'd certainly sign a petition, throw it my way!

I can't see any reason why it couldn't be a topic in PSHE/citizenship.

Maybe all children should become wards of the State since so many parents want to offload more and more parenting onto the State. Sex education, citizenship, financial education and now animal welfare. And of course, some people think it is the Government's responsibility to feed, clothe, house and provide cheap childcare for their children. What is the parents' role? To tell children you love them, is that it?

In some areas animal welfare has already been linked into the Scottish curriculum and this education has had a demonstrable impact on practical animal welfare www.scottishspca.org/education/

This kind of education also supports empathy development and social responsibility, all of which are important in personal and social development - there's a good evidence-base to support this

Moonbear10 that's a really good idea about adding it to the "everyday teaching" at schools. The petition is here petition.parliament.uk/petitions/170481 Thanks!

This is not the remit of schools, it's what parents are supposed to do.

Nope this is a job for parents imo.