Encouraging Compassion In Your Children

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If a child or adult is going to be successful in life, compassion is one of the most crucial qualities they can possess. A youngster who is compassionate will have an easier time navigating the sometimes difficult situations that are inevitable for them to face during their time spent in school. This is because all children go through these experiences.

Photo by Yan Krukov: https://www.pexels.com/photo/group-of-children-playing-on-green-grass-8613319/

Youngsters have a keen understanding of concepts such as fairness, equilibrium, and their rights. This is likely due to the fact that, as children, they are particularly susceptible to being treated unfairly. A compassionate child is one who possesses the skills necessary to advocate for their friends, even if those peers aren’t as emotionally, socially, or academically proficient as they are themselves.

When Do Youngsters First Start To Feel Empathy For Others?

Quite the early! According to the findings of several studies, children as young as 2 already exhibit a strong desire to assist those who are less fortunate than themselves. And this is the most important distinction between empathy and compassion: compassion is the desire to do something to better the circumstances of someone else, whereas empathy is the ability to comprehend how someone else is feeling. In order for a youngster to develop compassion, they need to first:

• Recognize that they are their own unique individual, separate from other people and that other people may see the world from a different point of view and with different emotions than she does.

• Be aware of a wide range of human experiences and be ready to name them when necessary.

• They exert at least some influence on the emotional responses that come from within themselves.

• Be able to put themselves in another person’s shoes and experience what they might be going through in a given circumstance

• Have the ability to devise a course of action or a response that might be of assistance to another person.

Your job as a parent is to teach your child compassion by first guiding them to a better understanding of and control over their own feelings. In their day-to-day lives, you should try to call their attention to the plight of people around them. For example, if the dog is wet from his walk, you should let them know about it and discuss with them what you can do to help the dog feel better. In general, children take pleasure in assisting others, and it’s not uncommon to see them show compassion toward their toys when they’re playing with them.

While In School

Your child, once they begin attending school, will have a plethora of opportunities to exhibit compassion for others, as well as opportunities to receive care and affection from their classmates.

This is one of the many reasons why the environment that children are exposed to in school is so crucial to their growth. A great way to achieve this is through team sport. Think about looking for custom sport kit designers and getting your children involved in a team sport at school. 

Children are given the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of compassion thanks to the peer support systems that are typically implemented in secondary schools. This secondary school in Kildare has a strong pastoral care team, and together, they work with youngsters to ensure that difficulties are worked out swiftly in a climate that is helpful and friendly to all parties involved.