Persuasive and determined children with empty homes know all too well the conversation with their parents about the possibility of getting a pet. "I will take them for a walk every day !" or "You won't even have to feed them or take them out to go to the bathroom," were phrases I once said in my unsuccessful attempt to get a family dog. My ambitious classmates in my elementary school class they knew how to make good presentations and used that skill to pitch to their advantage in getting their parents a new dog. They would use the similar empty promises of full responsibility and add the trusty “The Benefits of Getting a Dog” slide to entice the. their target audience Foer, along with all the classmates who made the slide “The Benefits of Getting a Dog,” believe that “parental folk wisdom and behavioral studies generally view the relationships children have with animals as beneficial companion." In the article titled "In Defense of the Mouse," author Angela Morales writes about how her children experienced these benefits after receiving two new pet rats and how their lives as a family were ultimately changed after learning important lessons from having a pet mouse: knowing how to care for something in life, experiencing how to love without the blindness of pre-existing notions, and learning how death becomes an important lesson. Say no to plagiarism Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned.” '? Get an Original Essay Animals have become more than just a tool for teaching children how to be responsible people, they also teach children the importance of those they care about. Jonathan Safran Foer, author of the New York Times article “My Life as a Dog” found in a recent study that “when asked to name the 10 most important 'individuals' in their lives, 7- and 10-year-olds years have included an average of two pets.” According to this study, children consider pets to be just as important as their mom or dad say, and even go so far as to call them their best friends: “42% of 5-year-olds spontaneously mention their pets when asked : 'Who is?' do you reach out when you feel sad, angry, happy, or want to share a secret?'” (Foer) For children, pets are more than just a learning tool, but something they will love unconditionally Mira and Leo, the Children of the Morales family, experienced the joy of caring for their two new rats as they "built obstacle courses and mazes and trained the rats to climb ropes and use a simple pulley they had created out of wire and cardboard." (Morales) Morales also tells us how they loved rats physically too, “letting them crawl on their knees, on their shoulders, on their necks”. The love and care given to rats is something that cannot be learned to its fullest extent with toy dolls and teddy bears. It cannot be learned through imaginary friends. It is taught through caring for living creatures and can later be translated into the love and care needed to care for family and friends. For Mira and her brother Leo, having a pet mouse allowed them to learn the importance of acceptance in the face of stereotypes. Rats in modern literature and media are not commonly portrayed in a flattering light. Scabbers, the beloved rat of the Weasley family in the famous Harry Potter series and franchise, turned out to be a cowardly man who hid from friends and family..