“Empathy can’t be taught but it can be caught,” says Mary Gordon. The founder of the Roots of Empathy, a school-based program, was widely quoted in this recent Time article, entitled How Not to Raise a Bully.
The ability to recognize and consider others’ feelings and points of view is clearly an important component of decreasing violence.
However another parenting author I like to read recently asked “Can your kids care too much?”
I will toss some older WKNTS posts about inspired (and inspiring) kids — Zack, Jonathan and Matthew — into the mix.
Inspired to Give
Taking Action
“I’m a Water Skier, Mom!”
Is it true that some people have too much empathy while others don’t have enough? Do you agree that empathy can be ‘caught?’ And if parents and teachers are already feeling over-stressed, what exactly is it that we need to do to increase kindness and compassion? How do we find the balance?
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2 Responses to “Empathy Can’t Be Taught, But It Can Be Caught”
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It is funny that we wrote about kindness on the same day and this is a GREAT article. I blogged about it awhile back and thought it was fantastic http://momsopposedtobullying.com/2010/04/22/how-not-to-raise-a-bully/. Great work as always.
Beth
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