The environmental factor is of great importance in the emergence of emotion in children. Every child who is loved by his/her family and environment also shows love for other beings. Stating that animal love is very important for children, experts said that this is one of the signs that the child is mentally healthy, and underlined that when there are people who do not love animals or persecute animals in the child's family and environment, this is considered as a normal behavior by the child and imitated.
Üsküdar University NPISTANBUL Hospital Child - Adolescent Psychiatry Specialist Assist. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emel Sarı Gökten made important evaluations about animal love in children.
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"Love is one of the most important emotions in life. Every mentally healthy person feels love for those around them and every child is born programmed to feel love," Emel Sarı Gökten said, noting that the environment has a key importance in the emergence of the child's emotion,
"Because every child who is loved, cared for and valued by his/her family and environment also feels love for other beings. The child who uses his/her soft toys as attachment objects during the process of separation from his/her mother also feels love for the soft, furry and cute animals he/she sees around him/her. They even try to convince their parents to adopt a cute animal. Animal love is very important for children because it is one of the clues that show us that our child is mentally healthy."
The child imitates his/her environment
Asst. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emel Sarı Gökten said, "Although their biological structure, that is, their innate characteristics are very important in children's behavior, the learning situation is almost as important. In other words, children learn to imitate other people's behaviors by seeing, listening and relating."
"When there are people in the family and in the environment who do not love animals or who torture them, the child sees this as normal behavior and imitates it. In addition, if children are not taught that animals are alive and need love and affection, they may think that they are inanimate beings that do not feel pain or are not important even if they do. Here, it becomes clear how important it is to give children the right information and to raise them in a loving environment."
Not all children who torment animals have psychiatric illnesses
Emel Sarı Gökten said, "Children who do not have any psychiatric illness can also torture animals if they are not given this sensitivity by their family and environment."
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"Especially children who live in an environment where this is considered normal may perform the same behavior. If, in addition to cruelty to animals, the child also exhibits behaviors such as aggression towards people, harming the environment, running away from home and school, and lying, then it is necessary to talk about a serious psychiatric disorder.
Children with behavioral disorders also harm animals
Children who have a tendency towards violence and who commit acts of harm against people or animals, even though their parents have instilled in them love for all living and non-living things and raised them in an appropriate environment, should be evaluated for psychiatric illness. A large proportion of children with behavioral problems also have other behavioral problems, such as harming animals. These children also tend to run away from school, damage other people's belongings and deceive people. Conduct disorder is a very serious psychiatric illness that must be treated."
"Every family has the obligation to create a loving environment for their child"
Expressing that the sensitivity of families on educational, environmental and social issues is very important, Gökten concluded his words as follows:
"Every family has the obligation to create a suitable, peaceful and loving environment for their children. Only children raised in such an environment and with love can become sensitive adults in the same way. Recent incidents of cruelty to animals remind us again how important it is for the family and the environment to set an example for children in terms of animal love and sensitivity towards animals."
