Jessica Walker
Age 13 | Winnipeg, Manitoba
Manitoba Schools Science Symposium 2019 Gold Medal | Manitoba Schools Science Symposium Women’s Health Award 2019 | Canada-Wide Science Fair 2019 Finalist
It has been said that “...there is no doubt that empathy is important in understanding animals, and also that it can be greatly improved with knowledge of the other.” (7) definition, empathy is the ability to understand, be aware of, be sensitive to, and share the feelings, thoughts and experiences of another. (2) Compassion is defined as the sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress, together with a desire to alleviate it. (1) By being more empathetic and compassionate to animals, we also are more likely to be compassionate to people, the environment, society and the world in general. Research has found a correlation between empathy and compassion to animals and empathy and compassion to people. (4) This experiment hopes to increase the awareness of students in Grade 5 and 8 with regards to animals and the environment, thereby increasing their empathy and compassion towards animals and issues surrounding our planet today such as climate change. In addition, there will be a measurable change to students’ responses with regards to empathy and compassion, after they have gained knowledge surrounding these issues.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to determine Grade 5 and 8, male and female students’ current level of empathy and compassion towards animals and the environment. Additionally, to educate the students about current animal welfare issues and the effects our choices have on their welfare and the environment. Also, to provoke thought-stimulating discussion and develop a sense of responsibility towards animals and the environment. Through this study the students will develop empathetic and compassionate thinking. At the end of the education, to re-assess Grade 5 and 8 student’s level of empathy and compassion following six weeks of education related to animal welfare, and environment. The last purpose was to provide students with practical ideas/actions for being empathetic and compassionate towards animals, the environment and ultimately people in the future.
HYPOTHESIS
If we educate students about the suffering of animals and current environmental issues through presentations, their levels of empathy and compassion will increase. I believe this foundation of empathy and compassion will result in the students becoming more helpful and kind to one another. In addition, this positive change in behavior will continue in other areas of their lives, making the world a better place for people, animals and our environment.
METHODS
Student survey answers were tallied on a 1-5 scale for each grade and gender. 1-Totally unacceptable 2-Unacceptable 3-No opinion 4-Acceptable 5-Totally acceptable (1 demonstrates a very empathetic and compassionate response while 5 demonstrates a nonempathetic and uncompassionate response.) Averages were calculated and graphed for each age and gender for analysis. The time frame of the project was 6 weeks, in which invited speakers educated and raised awareness in students about animal welfare in the intensive farming industry, animal issues such as pet overpopulation, wildlife and habitat loss, nutrition, and feeding the world’s increasing population, environment and climate change. The study population consisted of 26 grade 5 and 25 grade 8 students from Linden Meadows School. I chose these age groups to determine which is more effective at increasing their levels of empathy and compassion with education. The grade 5 class contained 12 boys and 14 girls, whereas the grade 8 class encompassed 14 boys and 11 girls.
Week 1
• Empathy and Compassion Survey to 26 Grade 5 and 25 Grade 8 students consisting of 24 measurable questions. Each question provided data on how much empathy and compassion the students had on animal issues and the environment, with gender taken into consideration.
• Speaker from Winnipeg Humane Society, Richard Milbourne and his dog ambassador provided a basic understanding of domestic animal welfare and current issues.
Week 2
• Speaker from Craig Street Cats, Lynne Scott educated about the importance of community cats and spay/neuter programs to prevent overpopulation.
Week 3
• Speaker from the Winnipeg Humane Society, Richard Milbourne discussed intensive factory farming issues and animal welfare relating to pigs, chickens and cattle.
Week 4
• Speaker from Prairie Wildlife regarding the importance of helping protect wildlife, biodiversity and habitats.
• Video presentation of rescued mother cat and her kittens’ development similar to the “Roots of Empathy” program. (6)
Week 5
• Registered Dietitian, Colleen Walker spoke about the new Canada’s Food Guide 2019 recommendations as it relates to a growing global population, intensive factory farming, environment and climate change.
• Samples of new “Beyond Meat Burger” from A&W were provided to illustrate to students how they can help animals and the environment.
Week 6
• Therapy pony and handler came to educate students about how horses help humans, yet other horses suffer by the inhumane practice of live-exportation for slaughter.
• In the final week, I resurveyed all students with the original survey, summarized the data, and shared results.
RESULTS
Figure 4. Initial and final survey results for grade 8 boys.
In the first survey, the Grade 8 boys were very sporadic in their answers with students choosing no opinion on many of the questions. Average results were 2.34. An additional goal became for students to have an opinion. The Grade 8 boys average after 6 weeks of education was 1.73. Overall, there was an increase of 0.61 in compassion and empathy.
Initial and final survey results for grade 8 girls.
For the first survey, the Grade 8 girls’ average was 2.12 and, like the boys, many had no opinion for some categories. This led me to question whether peer influence was having an effect even though the surveys were anonymous. When re-surveyed the Grade 8 girls average increased by 0.46 to 1.66. The results of the initial survey of the Grade 5, both males and females indicated they weren’t aware of many of the survey issues, especially related to intensive factory farming. The Grade 5 students were more interested to learn about these issues and were more engaged in the discussions that followed the presentations than the Grade 8’s. The Grade 5 boys at the initial survey averaged at 2.15. This result was mostly because of the “No opinion” answers given. The final result was an increase of 0.62 with an average of 1.53. Interestingly, both of the boy age groups had similar increases in scoring (0.61 vs. 0.62).
Figure 2. Initial and final survey results for grade 5 boys.
Figure 1. Initial and final survey results for grade 5 girls.
The Grade 5 girls started with a higher compassionate and empathetic average of 1.82, and were just as motivated as the boys to learn. The overall average for the final survey was 1.32 with an improvement of 0.5, which is the most compassionate and empathetic results overall. All the survey results show that knowledge does increase empathy and compassion, thus proving the hypothesis to be correct. From the results, we can conclude that knowledge does increase empathy and compassion. To have a significant impact, it must be taught in younger grades (5 or earlier). Empathy and compassion did increase overall for the Grade 8’s with similar increases across genders compared to the Grade 5’s. Due to the initial survey scores being lower overall in Grade 8, they did not result in as high a final value as the Grade 5 students. This suggests that by Grade 8, student beliefs are formed, and include less empathy and compassion. This may be related to peer pressure to conform, or because it is easier to choose “no opinion”, thereby skewing the results.(3) Even after 6 weeks, some of the Grade 8’s still had no opinion on some issues. Another comparison was done between genders. Girls scored higher in empathy and compassion overall, but the boys did increase more since they had more room for improvement. These results are important because it shows that empathy and compassion should be taught in our schools. Over 6 weeks of education, the Grades 5 and 8 students increased their levels of compassion and empathy. This could help to reduce bullying in schools and create happier communities. This knowledge is especially important as our world population grows and the need for empathy and compassion towards people, animals, habitats, biodiversity becomes more important than ever as we face the challenges of climate change. After all, empathy and compassion are the very foundation of what makes us human; if we lose the ability to feel empathy and compassion to others, we lose that which makes us human.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Special thanks to Linden Meadows School; Richard Milbourne, Winnipeg Humane Society; Lynne Scott, Craig Street Cats; Colleen Walker, R.D.; Prairie Wildlife Rehabilitation; A&W Restaurant; and Kathleen Crang B.Sc. B. Ed. PhD candidate, Shaftesbury High School.
REFERENCES
1. Compassion. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/compassion
2. Empathy. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.merriam- webster.com/dictionary/empathy
3. Empathy often avoided because of mental effort. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-04-empathy-mental- effort.html
4. Farm Animals & Us - Compassion in World Farming. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ciwf.org.uk/media/3953082/farm-animals-and-us-teachers-pack.pdf
5. Jenkins, S., Walter, D., & Crane, C. (2017). Esther the wonder pig: Changing the world one heart at a time. New York: Grand Central Publishing.
6. Roots of Empathy. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://rootsofempathy.org/
7. Sea World | Encyclopedia.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts- andmaps/sea-world
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Canada’s Changing Climate Report. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://changingclimate.ca/CCCR2019/
2. Chiavarone, K. (2018, August 24). 5 Ways To Teach Your Kids Compassion Towards Animals. Retrieved from https://www.naturespath.com/en-ca/blog/5-ways-teach-kids- compassiontowards-animals/
3. Eat a variety of healthy foods each day. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://foodguide.canada.ca/en/
4. The Compassionate Animal | Greater Good. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/the_compassionate_animal
5. Signal, T.; Taylor, N. (2007, October 27). Attitude to Animals and Empathy: Comparing Animal Protection and General Community Samples. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228348190_Attitude_to_Animals_and_Empathy_Co mparing_Animal_Protection_ and_General_Community_Samples
JESSICA WALKER
Jessica is a Grade 9 student attending Shaftesbury High School in Winnipeg. She is passionate about animals, human rights and the environment which led her to research if knowledge could increase empathy and compassion in children. Jessica’s research inspired her to establish an animal rescue on her family’s acreage which has helped over 60 cats, two pigs, one dairy cow and two lambs. Future goals are to use the rescue as a place to teach children about empathy towards animals and how to be compassionate in the world. In her free time Jessica enjoys dance, playing the flute, horseback riding and giving her time to help others.
APPENDIX: Survey Questions
My opinion of...
1) Causing suffering and pain in animals for human needs.
2) Humans supporting community cats.
3) Spaying or neutering cats
4) Destroying wildlife and their habitats.
5) Killing coyotes and other animals for fashion.
6) Producing chickens indoors.
7) Producing free-range chicken.
8) Selectively breeding chickens to grow faster.
9) Producing battery eggs.
10) Debeaking hens.
11) Producing eggs from chickens kept in small groups.
12) Live export horses and other animals for slaughter.
13) Selectively breeding cows to produce more milk.
14) Dairy cows being kept pregnant so we can have dairy products.
15) Separating and transporting calves for veal.
16) Rearing pregnant pigs in sow stalls.
17) Using farrowing crates.
18) Organic pig production.
19) Routine use of antibiotics in farming.
20) Using hormones in beef products.
21) Crowding animals together.
22) Eating veggie burgers.
23) Changing our diets today to reduce climate change in the future.