Teaching children how to be empathetic is a lesson often overlooked as parents. If your child lacks empathy and tact then this article will help in understanding empathy and how to teach it to kids.
Helping Your Child Develop Empathy
Empathy is a strongly needed quality among all people, young and old.
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
With more empathy comes more compassion, lower crime rates, and less hate among everyone. Although empathy comes more naturally to certain people, it is something we should all strive for and it can certainly be taught.
There are 4 ways we can help our children to grow empathetic. Here are a few ideas for assisting your child with their development of this very necessary trait: showing empathy.
1. Be Empathetic Towards Your Child
If you wish for your child to become strong in the area of empathy, you need to model this behavior towards him (or her).
Always be willing to see things from your child’s perspective, and try to identify with his feelings. If your child feels hurt about something you said, see the situation from his perspective.
Apologize to him for your harsh or uncaring words, and mirror back in your words what he has told you.
Help him understand that you see things from his point of view, as this is one of the best ways to show him what true empathy is all about.
2. Be Empathetic Towards Others
If someone has done something that made you feel upset, stop and think about their actions and your response instead of lashing out.
Let your child see you showing empathy in action. Think about the other person and what may have caused their reaction, words or attitude towards you.
Verbalize it with your child so they can see the thought process behind being intentionally empathetic. This will teach them the process so that they too can begin to...Click here to continue reading
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