Nothing can de-stress a college student like pictures of adorable puppies. University of Lancashire has realized this, and decided to use this knowledge to benefit their students. As part of their initiative to lower the stress levels of students, the university created an event as part of their Stressed Out Students (SOS) campaign involving an activity that all college students love: cuddling puppies. They teamed up with the charity Guide Dogs to students the opportunity to spend some quality time with a group of puppies in order to help them relax and de-stress.
The idea for this event came from a study conducted in Japan, which found that people have better concentration, and ultimately stronger test scores, when spending time with puppies and kittens. Participants in the study who looked at pictures of puppies and kittens before taking a test improved their scores by 44 percent.
The students aren’t the only ones benefiting from this interaction either. Since the puppies are being trained as guide dogs, this opportunity allows them to grow accustomed to being around people, which greatly improves their development and training. The puppies even have their own chill out room, which limits the number of students who can be in there at one time, preventing the puppies from becoming overwhelmed.
Students simply have to pay a simple fee of £1, which will be donated to the Guide Dogs charity, in order to have access to a group of happy, energetic puppies. It’s the ultimate way to help students relax and have fun, and other universities are starting to catch on… hopefully yours is next!