Are kids tougher than adults?

[chillipup]

Just been watching Supervet. In tears...now!! blimming program! Young girl and brother saying goodbye to beloved pet. Such a brave little girl and so sensible, seemed way beyond her years. Fair play to parents... Some kids are just amazing. Anyone else watching? watched? Thoughts and do you have any examples?

 

[Fools Motto]

Yup... wet eyes.

 

[chillipup]

I think the young girl had me in tears more so than the fact her lovely cat Gandolf had to be put to sleep. My kids, (well, my late sister's kids I took on) always seemed accepting in a similar situation regarding pets having to be PTS. I made a point of talking it through with them and answered any questions from them as honestly as I could, (without frightening the bejeezus out of them) however difficult the situation was. So how come it seems to get harder to accept these things, the older you get, or is it just me?

 

[dorito]

I was in bits watching, so glad it's not just me!

 

[chillipup]

Do children accept more willingly because of their young age?

 

[peaceandquiet1]

They have a shorter attention span so have periods of intense feeling then are able to move on, as they get older you see it changing.

 

[Alec Swan]

Do children accept more willingly because of their young age?

I'm not sure, but would think that it's probably the other way about. As adults we generally understand that everything in life comes to an end. I suspect that children, again generally, don't think things through to the end. Some children are simply more stoical, I suspect. I'm not really sure, to be honest!

I tend not to watch the programme any longer, because I wince at some of the procedures and wonder at the ethics, but then without the truly ground-breaking work that's been and is being done, we'd still be at the stage of putting an animal down simply because it has a broken leg, wouldn't we?

Alec.

 

[Peregrine Falcon]

Jezzzz, sat watching it in tears. My eldest (8yo) understands about death, unfortunately we've lost 2 ponies and a cat in the past 2 years so he is fully aware of loss. He's quite sensitive about it so I'm not sure they are tougher. He talks about it a lot which is good I suppose but I find myself welling up sometimes.

 

[hackneylass2]

Maybe we should celebrate sensitivity over toughness. A tough facade can hide deep sadness anyway....and this may not help. Understanding death is important, but how we grieve is personal to the individual, society should not put an 'accepted face' on this. The stiff upper lip is forced, and expressing grief should not be seen as a weakness.

I don't watch these programmes, because I get too upset. Mind you I agree with Alec, the advances of veterinary and for that matter, human medical science, would be stuck in the doldrums if new treatments were not adventured. I think that animals have it better than humans at this point in time, so many humans are kept alive with absolutely no quality of life purely because they are human.