Pupils learn with living animals at their school - this reduces disgust and fear

What is it about?

We brought living animals to the classroom - snails, wood lice and mice. Pupils worked with these animals carefully, made some non-harming experiements (e.g., if wood lice prefer dark or bright areas, etc.). The we assessed their attitude - fear and disgust. We did this before and after the lessons. Also, we employed a control group who experienced no living animals. The success was better in the living animal group. These pupils significantly had a lower disgust and fear score after the lesson.

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Why is it important?

This is important because it shows a) that is good to let pupils experience living animals, and b) that fear/disgust can be reduced. So just avoiding disgust relevant stimuli may not be optimal.