You no doubt know that this website focuses on Connecting Kids & Pets and one reason is the many, many benefits of kids having a BFF that’s a pet. Recently we came across an article by Jasmine Hall of care.com. We all know that Bullying is a problem many kids face in school. She told of the Kansas City school program, “No More Bullies,” that uses volunteers and therapy dogs to teach kids about being fair and compassionate.

The program discovered that kids can empathize with dogs who are mistreated more than they can with fellow students that are bullied (mistreated). They were able to transfer the kid’s thoughts about how a dog feels when mistreated to how their fellow student might feel when bullied – and the training reduced bullying behavior.

A similar program, Healing Species, did a study that found violent behavior of students in their study declined by 55% and general aggression decreased by 62% when volunteers used dogs to teach kids empathy and compassion.

That’s one of the 232 reasons that kids need pets that we have listed on our website by category. At one time or other in their schooling all our kids will experience some incidence of Bullying. A pet is not only a companion and best friend, s/he’s some one they can talk to and is a good listener, a protector and a confidant. It’s one reason why kids need pets.