Heart4kidsadvocacyforum's Blog

It is so interesting to see children express compassion for other children.  I witnessed it so many times on the playground in Pre-school, when a child would fall and hurt themselves and then all of a sudden be surrounded by their fellow playmates.  It is amazing how children respond to be attended to be their peers.

I have been fortunate enough to witness it between the siblings in our family, actually from childhood throughout our adulthood.  I believe that once it is recognized and nurtured, it can be a lifetime characteristic that is expressed throughout a person’s life.  This ability to be concerned and empathetic to the conditions of others is definitely, by today’s human relations scale the elevation of an “evolved human being.  We want this for our children.  We want them to authentically and genuinely express compassion for others when it is called for.  We want for our children to receive compassion from other people when they are in need of being cared for by others.  We want our children to know how to have a balance being compassionate and at the same time make sure they take care of themselves and are not being emotionally drained. We want them to be okay with taking personal responsibility for any of their actions that might have caused another person to be hurt either physically or emotionally.  Processing through the situation will hopefully help our children understand what it feels like to be hurtful and acknowledge that they don’t want to feel pain and distress inflicted by others in turn.

 I feel it is important to genuinely apologies for negative behavior inflicted on another person.  So yes-it is important to say – “I’m sorry” and the child actually mean it.  As a child however, compassion has to be nurtured and guided into manifestation.  Knowing the general intuitive nature of children, I know that they naturally gravitate toward being compassionate.  We just have to support them in learning when and how to demonstrate it.  I find that play time with their peers affords lots of opportunities for “teaching moments”!  More opportunities for us to be observant and knowing when and how to intercede.  Gently and non-aggressive in texture works most profoundly!  There will also be lots of trial and errors to figure out what works with each child.