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“Before you criticize or judge someone, put yourself in their place.” This simple quote expresses the power of empathy. Realizing the feelings of others and imagining what it would be like to be in the same position as them determines a person’s ability to empathize.
Empathy is a skill that should be taught to children at a young age, to share feelings and provide assistance. It is a complex trait that develops over time, and there are many ways to enhance it.
Learning empathy in a child’s early years
When children learn empathy early in their lives, they become more kind, understanding, and respectful of the feelings of others. Empathy also helps them build communication capabilities and enhance behaviors of helping others. It contributes to increasing their ability to form friendships and prevents them from bullying those around them. One of the most important features of empathy is that it It helps the child to understand that each person is different and to recognize the feelings and viewpoints of others that may be different from his own feelings.
Empathy enhances children’s ability to imagine what kind of action or response would help another person feel better or feel positive emotions, such as offering a friend moral support, a piece of candy, or a sincere hug.
Ways to build empathy within children
Because empathy is not an innate characteristic that children are born with, there are some ways that help parents enhance feelings of empathy within children, the most important of which is building a safe and strong loving relationship between parents and children, because when a child feels accepted in the environment around him, he can understand the feelings of others.
It must be taken into account that the family is the child’s first social reference and the measure that enhances his responses. Therefore, parents should be a role model for the child, by showing sincere sympathy for those around them, and apologizing when they make a mistake, because when parents get used to apologizing without arrogance or disavowal, children learn when they should say that.
Empathy can be built through stories and pretend play that actually puts children in imaginary situations that foster feelings of empathy within them.
No to fear and prejudice
Encouraging children to acknowledge bad feelings such as sadness or anger, without fear or worry of judgment or ridicule, is one effective way to build empathy in a child. When a child deeply understands his personal feelings and expresses them, he becomes able to understand the feelings of others and be aware of the ways they express these feelings.
So; Check your child’s feelings, because sometimes when a child feels sad or angry, parents only think of hiding the bad feelings and making up for it so that the child does not feel any pain. But parents and children must realize that bad feelings are a part of life and the child must learn how to deal with them and understand their reality instead of rejecting them, because understanding the truth of his personal feelings helps him understand the feelings of others.
Avoid internalizing feelings of guilt
Some may believe that establishing feelings of guilt makes the child sympathize with others, but the opposite is true, as feelings of guilt negatively affect empathy, meaning that the child cannot sympathize with others if he feels that he is the bad person or the cause of the negative feelings of another person, because when He feels ashamed and finds himself the subject of attack. Rather, he turns into a self-centered person who only sees his own situation. Therefore, attempts to make children feel guilty or wrong are not the appropriate way to enhance empathy skills with others, but on the contrary, they make children move toward feelings of anger, indifference, and isolation.
Adults show greater empathy towards individuals similar to them, and research indicates that children have the same tendency, so one of the best ways to encourage and develop empathy is to make the child realize the things he has in common with others, which is not an easy thing because children by nature tend to be selfish and cannot see The broader picture.
Modern technology has also contributed to distance from normal life, and the excessive use of screens causes an increase in children’s isolation and self-centeredness, and thus a decline in feelings of empathy within them, so education experts and psychologists advise parents to reduce the time they use screens and give children more time and opportunities for actual social communication and play. In order to develop feelings of empathy.
At the same time, caring for pets can enhance children’s feelings of empathy, because it provides children with a very meaningful daily responsibility, whether by taking care of the pet’s food and drink or by nurturing and caring for it, and children can learn empathy even by caring for and nurturing plants. And observing the growth of small flowers, which enhances the child’s sense of empathy in addition to enhancing his sense of accomplishment.
Traits of empathic children
Empathic children apologize when they make mistakes, become more aware of the impact of their actions on others, and always ask about the reasons for the negative feelings of the people around them. This curiosity shows their interest in understanding the feelings of others and appreciating their experiences, which enables the child to develop healthy, uncomplicated relationships throughout his life.
