Goldfish for Kids?

A pet can be a beneficial experience, but are Goldfish the ideal pets for children? From a parent's perspective they aren't going to mess up the house, they are quiet, they don't require a specialized pet sitter if you have to go away, and they kind of just do their thing. Here are my pros and cons as to having a goldfish as a pet for a child.

Pros:

Goldfish are quiet, they don't bark like a dog would or screech like a parakeet would.

Goldfish don't make messes, one just has to enjoy the trials of puppyhood to understand some pets make messes and lots of them.

Goldfish won't rack up a bill for immunization costs or vet bills

Goldfish are fun to watch

Goldfish won't give you salmonella like reptiles and other small pets

Cons:

You need to work with a lot of electric/water set ups and will have to teach your child how to do this safely. There must always be a drip loop in your cording and you need to follow the instructions on all electrical items to the T when it comes to water. 

You will need to do water changes (sometimes weekly) and scrub ornaments or tank walls from algae. This can be a time consuming task. And it can be a difficult task for a small child if they have to haul heavy water buckets around during water changes.

Goldfish are not bowl fish. They take up space and as they grow may require a bigger tank even. Tanks can be expensive.

You can't pet a goldfish. Yes, you are able to handle them or feed them out of your hand, but they are not "lap pets". This may bore some children as they are not very interactive compared to a hamster or cat. 

On your first attempt with figuring out how to cycle water or if there is an ich infestation because you bought your fish from a pet store or other over crowded low quality source, you may lose your initial fish to disease or improperly cycled water. This can be very sad for a child to experience the death of a pet.

To sum it up...

So, parents, keeping goldfish, like with any pet, will require your supervision and help. If you feel like you can handle helping your child keep up with water changes, supervising the set-up of the tank, and the research required to keep a healthy tank and prevent disease or treat disease, goldfish are not a bad choice for a child's first pet.