Teaching children about animal sentience and welfare shapes lifelong attitudes and behaviors toward animals.
Animal welfare education in schools is a high-leverage intervention because attitudes toward animals formed in childhood tend to persist. Children who learn that animals feel pain, have complex social lives, and deserve consideration become adults who make more welfare-conscious consumer choices, vote for stronger welfare legislation, and model empathic attitudes toward animals for the next generation. Humane education that combines factual knowledge with empathy development is most effective at creating lasting change.