Posted by Remy on March 18, 2003 at 14:14:44:
In Reply to: Re: Is this a good isea? posted by pgp_protector on March 17, 2003 at 23:53:31:
Is a 5 year old old enough to see to their own care? Do they know when they need to go to the doctor? Are they old enough to study nutrition and make the right choices in their own diet?
These are just a few examples of why a 5 year old is too young. When I was 5, I 'had' a Budgie that lived at my grandmother's house (next door). As I recall, about all I was good for was pestering the bird and asking if I could give Peter some millet spray. I knew nothing about sanitation procedures for water cups, much as I loved that bird.
Cases vary, but in my honest opinion, 10 would be the lower limit, age wise, and it would still require that the parent be willing to pitch in and learn everything as a back-up system. There is no teaching responsibility when a child doesn't know what they're doing to kill the bird.
One example of this was the woman who was arguing with me that it was not the fault of the owner that her bird had starved to death because she hadn't bothered to read the box from the store -- she had filled her bird's food cup to the brim with gravel, and that was all that the bird was offered to eat. Her rational was that the box had a picture of a bird on it, so it was assumed that it was food.(and this was even an owner who was a teenager and COULD read)
I really do think that 5 is too young. It would be better to give a 5 year old regular chores around the house to accomplish at this point -- emptying the trash, making their own bed, folding wash, dusting the house, sweeping the floors and walk, things like that.
If you already have a pet in the household, such as a dog or cat, give the task of feeding and watering the animal to the child if you want to involve them with a living animal. Get two sets of bowls in different colours so that you can monitor that the child HAS, in fact, changed the water, or given the animal it's dinner that day, but you will of course have to keep watch on it yourself too, so that the animal doesn't suffer.
