“Empathy is core to everything that makes society civilized, but above all, it makes our children better people, and that’s why I’m concerned. In the past decades, our kids’ capacity to care has plummeted while self-absorption has skyrocketed, and puts their humanity at stake. Today’s culture values “me” more than “we.”
Empathetic children use nine essential habits to help them navigate the emotional minefields and ethical challenges they will inevitable face in life. These nine habits also guide their empathic urges and inspire them to help others. And all nine are teachable and culled from the latest research in child development, neuroscience, and social psychology:
- Emotional literacy – to recognize and understand the feelings and needs of oneself and others.
- Moral identity – to adopt caring values that guide integrity and activate empathy to help others
- Perspective taking – to step into others’ shoes to understand another person’s feelings thoughts, and views
- Moral imagination – to be able to use literature, films, and emotionally charged images as a source of inspiration to feel with others
- Self-regulation – to manage strong emotions and reduce personal stress to be able to help others
- Practicing kindness – to increase concern about the welfare and feelings of others
- Collaboration – to work with others to achieve shared goals for the benefit of all
- Moral courage – to be emboldened to speak out, step up, and help others
- Altruistic leadership abilities – to be motivated to make a difference for others, no matter how small it may be”
(UnSelfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me World, by Dr. Michele Borba)