Many classrooms across the country have classroom pets ranging from goldfish to chickens. Teachers hope to give young students lessons about responsibility, empathy and treating animals humanely. But is this a good idea? Elementary school teacher Amy Morgan tells me she likes having pets in the classroom, as long as the pets are only fish; anything more can be distracting. Even with fish, Morgan ended up having to take them home over summer break.
I remember back in the 70’s, bringing home two female hamsters to care for over a weekend. Unfortunately, those two female hamsters turned out to be one male and one female, and the female gave birth while she was in my care. She also ate some of her young. That was quite a weekend…
Aside from unfortunate mishaps pairing two species of the opposite sex in the same cage together, should teachers allow pets in the classroom? I believe that as long as the proper classroom pet is chosen and precautions are taken, valuable lessons can be learned.