How to Teach Empathy

According to Wikipedia, empathy is the ability to feel or express emotion for another living being while sympathy is to deeply understand the other person's feelings. Basically, empathy is identifying with another living being and sympathy is sharing the feeling. Sympathy tends to be an easier concept for children to grasp because it is an emotion based on a similar experience. Empathy is a more abstract concept and needs to be modeled for children from an early age in order for compassion to develop. Many child experts commonly link compassion and empathy together. So, how can schools and parents teach empathy?

Parent Center, Education World, and Kind News are beneficial resources with information on how to teach empathy. The overall consensus is that children learn empathy by listening, talking, making decisions and helping others. More importantly, children observe adults around them demonstrating empathy. Below are some suggestions that work in the classroom and in the home.

Listening: Listen when children express themselves. Restate the children's feelings so they know that you were listening. Provide feedback that indicates an understanding. Always acknowledge positive and negative emotions. If certain emotions are disregarded, children will think those emotions are bad to talk about. Have children practice listening. This can be done in social situations, such as on the playground, in a class or even at a restaurant. Point out how you can read other people's feelings by their body language and verbal communication. Put the abstract concept of empathy into the concrete by using specific and relevant examples.

Talking: Depending upon the maturity level, discuss historical events and participate in role- playing activities. Older children may be able to participate in discussions about the Civil War and the American Revolution. Point out different perspectives. A child may like to chase birds in a park because he/she gets an immediate response. The birds fly away. Ask they child - why do you think the birds flew away? How would you feel if someone was chasing you? What happens when people and animals feel startled? Let your child pretend to speak as if he/she were the birds returning home from the park with their story about what happened.

Decision-Making: Assign chores. Let children figure out the best way to accomplish the chores. Chores for younger children may be watering a plant or feeding the family pet with supervision. Older children may be capable of planning a grocery list for the week. When children make poor decisions, avoid yelling. Give children a chance to brainstorm other more appropriate solutions for next time. Prompt children with questions. What will you do next time a child is alone on the playground? Will you invite him/her to play? How would you feel if no one played with you?

Helping Others: Pairing together younger and older children in peer tutoring or reading sessions. Younger children will benefit from the help of the older children. Older children will benefit from explaining information to the younger children. Teaching is the most effective means of learning and retaining material. Ask children to help either pass out papers or add ingredients to the mixer for a scrumptious cake. Praise children when caught helping others. All good deeds should be noticed and pointed out to other children present.

Since children are keen observers, model for them. Demonstrate polite communication skills. Volunteer and explain why you are giving time to a specific organization. Donate money to charity and speak about how the funds will be helpful. Let children take part in giving some of their time and money (perhaps from allowance) to a cause of their choice because children learn not only by watching but also by doing.