Many years ago I remember sitting with a young student who had lashed out angrily at a classmate. The classmate was crying as they dealt with their wounds; bruises to his leg and his pride. The classmate had bravely shared their feelings and now I was attempting to negotiate a heart-felt apology. After explaining how hurt her classmate was, I asked my young friend how she felt about that. She promptly proclaimed, “Pretty good actually…and I’m not sorry.”
We all want to raise kind and compassionate young people, but how do we instil compassion in our children and teenagers? It starts with us. By choosing to use kind words and tone with our children, even in difficult contexts, we show compassion and unconditional love. Our children are also watching the way we interact with and speak about others. The frustrated tone with the incompetent checkout worker. The horn angrily blasted at the slow driver, the harsh, unfiltered comments about others. We are constantly modelling our own approach to others.
Empathy underpins compassion and kindness. Helping our children to be other-focusing, to see things from the perspective of another, is an important part of developing empathy. Asking our children to consider different perspectives and place themselves in the shoes of others can be powerful in building understanding.
We also build kindness and compassion through naming it and praising it. When we notice our children being kind, compassionate and empathetic, we need to reinforce the positive behaviour.
Our current value is compassion and kindness and never before have we needed this value more. Our community is under pressure and families are struggling and at breaking point. Small acts of kindness, compassionate words and caring hearts all make a big difference. So how could YOU make a difference for someone else today? How could YOU model kindness and compassion to your child?
Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behaviour. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:31-32 NLT
Mrs Deb Cooper
Principal
Type on the line above then press the Enter/Return key to submit a new search query