What is Kindness for Kids

“Share your toys” is something we have been teaching our kids since the very first time they played with other children.

Kindness and compassion are vital in the development of young children’s social competence and socio-emotional skills.

Being kind is an intentional act that benefits others for its own sake when one is not required to do so. It is generally regarded as a virtue. A kind person shows a genuine, deep, and selfless concern for people without expecting anything in return.

Kind emotions include sympathy, empathy, respect, guilt for wrongdoing, and pride for acting ethically. Kind cognitions come from understanding how the act of kindness affects others and ourselves. Kind actions are acts of prosocial behavior as simple as giving a helping hand, cooperating, or comforting another, or as complex as sharing with others or including the discriminated.

The more these three elements are incorporated into daily life activities, the more transformational power they have. For example, the more we internally feel kind emotions, the more likely we are to show kind acts accordingly. Child kindness is particularly beneficial. Caring acts significantly improve children’s prosocial skills and their relationships with others.

In a 4-week study, students aged 9 to 11 were instructed to perform three acts of kindness per week. Those children showed significant improvement in social skills as evidenced by an increase in peer acceptance. Being considerate to others is also correlated with academic achievement.

In a world where people are increasingly more divided than ever, being kind, whenever possible, can help make the world a better place.

Mrs Sue Zweck, Head of Teaching and Learning K-5