Post by laescoobyfan on Sept 17, 2012 23:06:08 GMT -5
I found this article to be very interesting. Here it is:
"Scooby Doo can still bite you and children need to understand that, study finds
CHILDREN are becoming more vulnerable to dog attacks because fictional dog characters lead them to thinking dogs are like people, a study has found.
The UniSA study, published in the journal Children Australia, watched and interviewed hundreds of children during dog safety training and found they treated dogs like people rather than territorial hunting animals.
Report co-author Sue Nichols, a senior lecturer in education at UniSA, said fictional cartoon characters could be useful in teaching children about dog safety but not if they portrayed them with human-like emotions.
She said dog safety educators should teach children that "cultural representations" of dogs being similar to people were not real and a poor guide on how to respond to the animals.
"Cartoon dogs are mainly there to entertain children and so they don't help the children understand why dogs will react in a different way to humans in certain circumstances," Ms Nichols said.
"What children don't learn from fictional cartoon dog characters is that dogs are territorial animals, they are hunting animals and they have hunting instincts which cause them to react in a particular way."
Ms Nichols said the study found one in four students, aged five and six, wrongly believed dogs liked being patted on their heads and one in six had not overcome their intuitive reaction to run from a threatening dog.
Many children mistakenly projected their own human emotions on to dogs and treated them like human babies, it found.
For example, children described some dogs as "sad" and wanted to offer them physical comfort rather than leave the dogs alone.
"Children need to understand that while a dog may seem to be like a member of your family it is still a dog," she said.
"It still has dog instincts and dog behaviour which can be dangerous, and children need to know how to interpret that behaviour and how to act around dogs."
Harriett Hampton, 9, of North Adelaide, said she loved playing with her pugalier, Ned, and her friend's greyhound, Rocky, but has had dog awareness lessons at school.
"They teach us don't go up to them (dogs), and if the owners say it's OK, you can put your hand in a fist and put it up to their nose so they can sniff you," she said."
This is from: www.perthnow.com.au/news/national/scooby-dooby-doo-can-still-bite-you-and-children-need-to-understand-that-study-finds/story-fndo6d4b-1226468493170
I understand the concern, but should Scooby-Doo really be blamed?
"Scooby Doo can still bite you and children need to understand that, study finds
CHILDREN are becoming more vulnerable to dog attacks because fictional dog characters lead them to thinking dogs are like people, a study has found.
The UniSA study, published in the journal Children Australia, watched and interviewed hundreds of children during dog safety training and found they treated dogs like people rather than territorial hunting animals.
Report co-author Sue Nichols, a senior lecturer in education at UniSA, said fictional cartoon characters could be useful in teaching children about dog safety but not if they portrayed them with human-like emotions.
She said dog safety educators should teach children that "cultural representations" of dogs being similar to people were not real and a poor guide on how to respond to the animals.
"Cartoon dogs are mainly there to entertain children and so they don't help the children understand why dogs will react in a different way to humans in certain circumstances," Ms Nichols said.
"What children don't learn from fictional cartoon dog characters is that dogs are territorial animals, they are hunting animals and they have hunting instincts which cause them to react in a particular way."
Ms Nichols said the study found one in four students, aged five and six, wrongly believed dogs liked being patted on their heads and one in six had not overcome their intuitive reaction to run from a threatening dog.
Many children mistakenly projected their own human emotions on to dogs and treated them like human babies, it found.
For example, children described some dogs as "sad" and wanted to offer them physical comfort rather than leave the dogs alone.
"Children need to understand that while a dog may seem to be like a member of your family it is still a dog," she said.
"It still has dog instincts and dog behaviour which can be dangerous, and children need to know how to interpret that behaviour and how to act around dogs."
Harriett Hampton, 9, of North Adelaide, said she loved playing with her pugalier, Ned, and her friend's greyhound, Rocky, but has had dog awareness lessons at school.
"They teach us don't go up to them (dogs), and if the owners say it's OK, you can put your hand in a fist and put it up to their nose so they can sniff you," she said."
This is from: www.perthnow.com.au/news/national/scooby-dooby-doo-can-still-bite-you-and-children-need-to-understand-that-study-finds/story-fndo6d4b-1226468493170
I understand the concern, but should Scooby-Doo really be blamed?
