The Significance of Children and Animals: Social Development and Our Connections to Other Species
Myers, Gene (2007).
West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University Press; 241 pages. $29.95. ISBN 9781557534293.
Animals are “in” and children are “in,” and it follows that knowing more about the relationship between social development and animals should also be “in,” high on the agenda of research programs dedicated to learning more about how youngsters perceive, represent, and interact with nonhuman animals (hereafter “animals”). Judging by the number of new references in Gene Myers' 2007 revision of the 1998 edition of this book, it's clear that this is the case: more and more researchers and teachers are studying the relationship, or what really should be called the interrelationship, between children and animals.
I always thought that a great bumper sticker that could easily replace the political and socio-cultural slop that decorates innumerable cars would be “Teach the Children Well.” Gene Myers’ excellent book supports my views. Simply put, The Significance of Children and Animals is an outstanding book, a must-read for educators, parents, and anyone who cares about the future of our fragile planet. It's scholarly and at the same time practical (Myers shows how academic findings seamlessly translate into conservation programs including diverse species), easy to read because it's not laden with disciplinary jargon, broad in scope, forward-looking, and hopeful. Myers also is very clear about what the book covers and what it does not. To wit, Myers’ main objective is to tell readers “how animals can become significant in development, particularly in the development of a sense of self” (viii). The ubiquitous notion of “self” is woven into discussions throughout the book, as is the importance of caring. Myers is not concerned with pets (a.k.a. companion animals), the use of animals in therapy, or animal abuse, although if we follow the data and Myers’ arguments, companion animals will have better relationships with the humans with whom they share their lives, far fewer youngsters will find themselves in therapy (with animals or not), and there will be less overall animal abuse. It's essential for youngsters to develop strong and reciprocal bonds with animals based on respect and reverence for life, as they develop an understanding of who “we” are and who “they” are.
Professor Myers’ data come from a year-long study of 24 kids in a preschool class in which the students’ own words and actions form the core from which he develops his theories about why animals play a significant role in social development. We learn that animals are catalysts for the development of morality, a theory of mind, a sense of self that has life-long implications, and for learning about the nature of life—what it means to be alive—and life itself.
I don’t find Myers’ conclusions to be all that surprising, but it is nice to have “science” to back up our common sense intuitions. Anyone who has been around kids and animals know they're a natural unit. Children are sponges for knowledge, absorbing, retaining, and using new information at astounding rates. They really have a “feel” for animals and freely express it until adults or “objective” science shut them down. We all know that most children are curious naturalists, but we often forget this when we're helping them develop their roles as future ambassadors with other animals and other facets of nature.
I'm continuously exposed to this tight reciprocal connection in the work I do as part of Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots Program (http://www.rootsandshoots.org/), in which it's clear that children are inherent and intuitive naturalists whose tight bonds with animals weaken as they age because other things become more important, they become “too busy,” or because adults don't recall how prescient these connections really are.
Even in kindergarten, some kids have already developed very sophisticated attitudes about human-animal interactions. One thought experiment in which we engage is called “the dog in the lifeboat.” Basically, there are three humans and one dog in a lifeboat. One of the four has to be thrown overboard because the boat cannot hold all of them, even though it means certain death to whoever goes overboard. Generally, when this situation is discussed, most people agree that all other things being equal, reluctantly the dog has to go.
But it's not all that simple when I introduce variations on the theme. For example, perhaps two of the humans are healthy youngsters and one is an elderly person who is blind, deaf, paralyzed, without any family or friends, and likely to die within a week, whereas the dog is a healthy puppy. The kids always admit that this is a very difficult situation and that maybe, just maybe, the elderly human might be sacrificed because he or she had already lived a rich and complete life and didn't have much of a future. Indeed, this is very sophisticated thinking that perhaps the elderly person had less to lose than either of the other humans or the dog. Let me stress that all students agreed that this line of thinking was not meant to devalue the elderly human. But, what was very enlightening as a message of hope for the future, almost all the youngsters decided that no one should be thrown overboard and that there had to be a solution that would allow all the individuals to survive. There just had to be and that was it—no further discussion, because it was simply wrong to allow any of the individuals to be killed.
Myers also mentions another program that I've had the privilege to see first hand. In September 2007 I visited with Dr. Sarah Bexell, Director of Conservation Education at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding (http://www.panda.org.cn/). Using Myers’ findings, Bexell has organized a curriculum that offers “multiple points of contact” (ix) with animals.
It personalizes animals as individuals, allows sensory contact, validates perceptions of animal feeling and mentality, focuses students on observing animal behavior and understanding its meanings and the animals' needs, connects animals and conservation, and supports moral concerns.
After experiencing this program, children (and adults) develop close connections with pandas. These results are very surprising and most-welcomed in a culture in which animals usually are written off (and openly killed, as were tens of thousands of dogs when there was a rabies scare in 2006).
All in all, The Significance of Children and Animals is a significant contribution to the rapidly growing field of anthrozoology, the study of human-animal studies. It is a wonderful resource, and Myers’ findings have major implications for future research, policy and practice, and theory. It seems a no-brainer that children are our ambassadors of goodwill and hope for the future and if we teach them well, we'll never regret it. Compassion begets compassion, and it's best to start developing close and enduring relationships with animals as early in life as possible.
Reviewer Information
University of Colorado, Boulder
Marc Bekoff is professor emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has written or edited 20 books, including The Emotional Lives of Animals, Animals Matter, and the Encyclopedia of Human-Animal Relationships: An Exploration of Our Connections with Animals. His home page is http://literati.net/Bekoff; see also www.ethologicalethics.org.