On Thursday, May 9, the staff of BPHS brought in 5-year-old golden retriever, Piper. Piper has been a service dog for about three years now and was brought to the high school for stress relief for pre-prom and for pre-Keystone testing that will be taking place next week. Many students seemed to love Piper, raising the question: Should BPHS have its own school therapy dog?

The UCLA Health Department has found that therapy dogs help with both mental health and physical health. These special dogs lower anxiety, provide comfort and cause a healthy and happy distraction. When it comes to physical health, they lower blood pressure and release hormones.

Bethel Park would be taking a step in the right direction if they had a school service dog to interact with the students. Happiness would increase, test scores would increase and positivity would skyrocket.

Bethel Park would truly benefit from having a therapy dog, and I believe it is something that should seriously be considered.