What To Do If My Child Is Afraid Of Animals?
Nowadays, fears or phobias are incredibly common, and if we look around the world there are a wide variety of them. One of them is the fear of animals called in another way as Zoophobia. This is a term that designates the irrational fear felt by some person towards animals in general. It should be noted that Zoophobia refers to all species of animals and not to a specific animal.
Surely, you want to help your child lose his fear of those harmless animals that we see repeatedly throughout the day. That is, to domestic animals. In this article we will explain what this fear is about, and practical advice so that your child can overcome that fear.
Factors that develop fear of animals
Childhood is the stage of life where we learn and develop our motor skills. When our parents reprimanded us for something we shouldn’t do. Like eating dirt or taking things from the ground to your mouth. We store those memories very well, and we learn that this is bad and we should not repeat it.
Many of the basic things we learn during childhood, for example: Is that bad? Okay, mom or dad do they agree? And many other questions that go through our minds.
One of the factors that allows you to acquire a fear is strongly related to the questions already mentioned. Since when we observe an animal, a dog, cat or horse, our brain processes what we observe and the possibilities that an action entails. Will it attack me? The bad thing is when it really happens, and that is why the bad experiences obtained during childhood cause us those fears.
Another factor that contributes to a child having intense terror of animals is through television. There are various programs, films or documentaries that indirectly affect the subconscious of children. In many of them, dangerous, violent animals or that correspond to a danger to the public welfare can be observed, generating in the little ones an irrational fear.
Common fears or phobias
The most common and present subgroups in people, both children and adults, if we look at it, many are not one hundred percent dangerous. These include fear of dogs (Cinophobia). Cats (Ailurophobia); spiders (Arachnophobia); Rats or mice (Murophobia); Insects (Entomophobia) and snakes (Ophidiophobia).
The influence of a third party may also cause a phobia in children. There are cases where someone has not had contact or rather, a bad experience with an animal. We mentioned TV earlier, but parents themselves can make their child develop that antipathy.
Next we will explain what you should do to end once and for all the fear of animals in your children, which is the main topic of this article.
What should you do if your child is afraid of animals?
Okay, now let’s move on to what you should primarily do to help your child. Not all of us assimilate this in the same way, so the first thing you should take into account is the way in which you approach your child, you do it with anger in the form of scolding or without any importance, ending up making fun of your child and we do not want you to suffer more than you already do.
In the first place, what you should do is face the problem with love and patience because it will not be overnight, everything takes its due time, learning is based on that. It would even be great if you talk to your child about fear.
The second thing, although it sounds a bit cruel, is to expose them to animals from time to time, of course you must first make them understand that the animal will not cause any harm. How? Try playing or stroking the pet so that the child perceives that it does nothing to you. If he is afraid of a less docile one, you can go with him to a zoo and use the same medium.
If you instill in your child at an early age the love for animals you will remain without any concern, namely, he will not be afraid or phobia but he will also take conscious affection for them.
