The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Scottish SPCA) has collaborated with the University of Edinburgh to develop a new video game designed to promote positive child-animal interactions and prevent young people from being cruel to animals.
The pilot computer game, Pet Welfare, aims to inspire children aged 7 to 12 to engage with animals in a safe and responsible manner.
After testing the game with 184 children in Scotland, the developers reported that Pet Welfare effectively conveyed the importance of animal welfare. It helped the kids better understand that animals have feelings and that they should behave in a proper and safe way toward them.
“The game is based on three interactive levels based on the pets found to experience the most incidents of animal cruelty: dogs, cats and rabbits,” explains Dr. Roxanne Hawkins, who developed the game. “Through the multiple levels within the game, children learn important information about the five animal welfare needs, specific to each pet type, learn that pet animals are sentient, and learn about what is appropriate and safe behavior towards each pet type.”
Approximately 70% of children in the U.K. have pets, and accidental cruelty is common. A key goal of the game is to offer materials that educate children on how to harmlessly interact with their pets.
‘‘Pet Welfare includes e-learning tools which allow interactive educational materials to be used alongside the game,” she adds. “The results are very promising, with the game having a significant impact on knowledge, attitudes and belief in animal minds.”
Image Credit: Scottish SPCA and the University of Edinburgh
“The Scottish SPCA believes the heart of prevention is education,” adds Gilly Mendes Ferreira, Head of Education and Policy at the Scottish SPCA. “We reach around 245,000 school children each year to promote positive interactions with animals and for young people to recognize that animals have feelings.
“Previous research has shown that most cruelty towards animals in childhood is often accidental and education is the key to promoting safe interaction with animals. We strive to inspire and find new ways of teaching animal welfare and this research is an important educational step for animal cruelty prevention.”
What’s New…
I think it’s Very Important that ALL children learn to show Compassion, Respect, Consideration, and Kindness toward ALL Animals. If they learn to abuse animals, then they will later end up abusing people as well. It’s been proven that people who abuse animals later on end up committing crimes against people. Look at Adolph Hitler, Charles Manson, and other demonic people. They probably abused animals when they were young. Stop Animal Abuse! Teach Your Children To Be Kind To Animals!
Wonderfu; thanks!
About time something good came out on video.
THIS IS A WONDERFUL IDEA!!!!! MAKE THIS SHAREABLE, AND I’LL SHARE IT WITH THE PUBLIC ON FACEBOOK!! IT SHOULD BE MARKETED ALL OVER THE WORLD TO RAISE UP PEOPLE’S CONSCIOUSNESSES ABOUT KINDNESS TO DOGS!
So very proud of you Scotland xxxxx
PURE AWESOMENESS…THANK YOU FOR TAKING THIS APPROACH
This is a good idea now needs to be progressed.
This is wonderful! We need to do that here!
WOW THAT MAKES OUR FAMILY HAPPY.
NAMASTE🐦
THE GALARNEAU FA9
This is such a joy to read! Finally a positive learning tool and game for children to learn kindness to animals. I hope this becomes a world-wide game. Thank you, Scotland, for coming up with this idea.
Well done!