Teaching Empathy

One of the hardest things we can teach our children is empathy. It is often very hard for children to understand or sympathize with persons they do not really know or situations that do not directly affect them. It is amazing, however, at how responsive children are when time is taken out to explain to them and a participatory way to empathize is demonstrated.

My suggestion is a simple week long project. For one week, go out with your child and commit random acts of kindness. You might be puzzled at what this will achieve. First of all, it teaches you and your children that good works are their own reward. Second, your child gets to see how easy it is to make someone's life better than it was.

What sort of things can you do? Talk to your child about how some people have very little clothing, shoes, toys, etc. Let them go through their old clothes, outgrown shoes, and old toys. Go through your house and look at things that you always meant to have a garage sale with. Go throgh your clothes, shoes, sheets, towels, and blankets with a critical eye. Weed through them. Bag them all up and take them to a charity shop or homeless shelter that caters to families. This is truly random as you have no idea who you are helping.

How about talking about hunger while out doing the groocery shopping? Take some of your bought one, got one free food, a spare loaf of bread, powdered milk, etc. to a food bank. Call and find out if they accept refrigerated products. Make it things that you and your family would like to eat.

If your child is older, how about looking around the neighborhood for a single parent, an elderly person, or someone with a disability and offer to mow their lawn, rake their leaves, or even plant them a flower bed?

If your baby has outgrown one size of diapers, and ou have some left over, why not donate them to a charity shop? Someone will be thrilled at the find. Toddler off of baby formula but cans of it are left over? Leftover jars of baby food? Donate them to a food pantry.

There is no limit to the types of things you can do for another person without getting a pat on the back and community recognition. What you will get is a better world to live in and a legacy to pass on to your children. Besides, who needs more of a reward than seeing their child learn to care about people in need?

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