Woof
Did my first PAWS presentation last week, at a park district day camp. We had a group age 6-9, followed by a group age 10-12. The older kids answered direct questions, and generally weren't very disruptive. The younger kids... well... sometimes it went like this, "Who knows what spay and neuter mean?" *hands go up* "Yes, you?" "I have a dog!" Okay. :)
I have to say, I really enjoyed it. This was my first presentation, and I blanked a few times, losing track of what I was supposed to say, especially with the wiggly, impatient younger kids. I co-presented with another woman, and we switched back and forth after each section of the presentation. I, silly, girl that I am, offered to do the last section, which covers dog fighting. My presentation style is very engaged, and borderline theatrical, but I think I handled the switch to serious subject matter pretty well.
There was one sort of heart-breaking moment, when I was explaining about how organized dog fighting is illegal, and even watching it is illegal, and you should tell a grown-up, like your parents, if you find out about a dog fight, but if you can't tell you parents, you could tell your teacher or maybe one of your day camp counselors. And a little girl, maybe 10 years old, raised her hand and asked in a small voice what you should do if the person who would get in trouble is someone you care about, like someone in your family... Oh. We told her that she could tell another adult, and no one would ever have to know that she was the one who told, but... how do you tell a kid, "Okay, yes, it's totally okay to rat out your parents, and they won't know that you were the one who told, but that won't help you much when you're in a foster home because your folks are in jail." I hope she told someone.
After the presentations, the kids lined up and took turns petting therapy dogs, using the routine they'd been taught. (Ask the owner's permission, let the dog sniff your hand, then pet its side.) I walked up and down the line with a dog puppet and reminded the littler kids what they were supposed to do, and, of course, they wanted to play with the puppet. The girls, almost invariably, wanted to cuddle it, and the boys, almost invariably, wanted to growl and make it bite people. :)
I have to say, I really enjoyed it. This was my first presentation, and I blanked a few times, losing track of what I was supposed to say, especially with the wiggly, impatient younger kids. I co-presented with another woman, and we switched back and forth after each section of the presentation. I, silly, girl that I am, offered to do the last section, which covers dog fighting. My presentation style is very engaged, and borderline theatrical, but I think I handled the switch to serious subject matter pretty well.
There was one sort of heart-breaking moment, when I was explaining about how organized dog fighting is illegal, and even watching it is illegal, and you should tell a grown-up, like your parents, if you find out about a dog fight, but if you can't tell you parents, you could tell your teacher or maybe one of your day camp counselors. And a little girl, maybe 10 years old, raised her hand and asked in a small voice what you should do if the person who would get in trouble is someone you care about, like someone in your family... Oh. We told her that she could tell another adult, and no one would ever have to know that she was the one who told, but... how do you tell a kid, "Okay, yes, it's totally okay to rat out your parents, and they won't know that you were the one who told, but that won't help you much when you're in a foster home because your folks are in jail." I hope she told someone.
After the presentations, the kids lined up and took turns petting therapy dogs, using the routine they'd been taught. (Ask the owner's permission, let the dog sniff your hand, then pet its side.) I walked up and down the line with a dog puppet and reminded the littler kids what they were supposed to do, and, of course, they wanted to play with the puppet. The girls, almost invariably, wanted to cuddle it, and the boys, almost invariably, wanted to growl and make it bite people. :)