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Roots of Empathy

Empathetic Thinking in the Classroom

The Problem

According to the Canadian Institutes

of Health Research, Canada has the 9th highest rate of bullying in the 13-years-olds category on a scale of 35 countries, with at least

1/3

adolescent students in Canada have reported being bullied.

The Problem

Researchers have also shown that bullying can lead to depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and physical illness. In extreme cases, bullying can be fatal. In fact, over the past few years the media reported cases of suicide among teens who ended their life after being the target of repeated harassment at school and in cyberspace.

Bullying is a serious issue, and governments are taking steps to protect kids. For example, Ontario is implementing new anti-bullying legislation in the province's schools this September, and last winter Québec adopted Bill n°56: An Act to prevent and stop bullying and violence in schools. However, bullying still remains a problem.

One organization aims to stop bullying before it starts

The Innovation

Roots of Empathy is a classroom program in Toronto, Canada, where infants are taken to visit elementary schools on a regular basis, in order to allow the schoolchildren to observe the infant's development and emotions, with the goal of building caring, peaceful, and civil societies through the development of empathy in children and adults.

The Innovation

The Goals

- To foster the development of empathy

- To develop emotional literacy

- To reduce levels of bullying, aggression and violence, and promote children’s pro-social behaviors

- To increase knowledge of human development, learning, and infant safety

- To prepare students for responsible citizenship and responsive parenting

The Method

At the heart of the program are a neighborhood infant and parent who visit the classroom every three weeks over the school year. A trained Roots of Empathy Instructor coaches students to observe the baby’s development and to label the baby’s feelings. This “emotional literacy” taught in the program lays the foundation for safer and more caring classrooms. They are more competent in understanding their own feelings and the feelings of others (empathy) and are therefore less likely to physically, psychologically and emotionally hurt each other through bullying and other cruelties.

Founder: Mary Gordon

Mary Gordon is the Founder, President, and inspiration behind Roots of Empathy. She is recognized internationally as an award-winning social entrepreneur, educator, author, child advocate and parenting expert who has created programs informed by the power of empathy.

The Founder

As well as the one behind Roots of Empathy, she is also one of it's main spokespeople. She has done numerous interviews with news outlets, reporters, and has even done her own TedTalk.

Title

You can watch the whole talk here!

"If we want to do anything about violence in our society, we have to start with children and break the inter-generational cycle. Roots of Empathy gives children an alternative to the experiences they may have had, and it gives them another way of looking at what it’s like to love and be loved. That’s a powerful takeaway. This is not something that’s instructed; it’s something that’s constructed."

Title

Quote from Mary Gordon in an interview with Lennon Flowers

The Impact

Roots of Empathy has made a clear impact on the schools and communities it has visited. Children who have participated in the program have shown to have

The Impact

- Increase in social and emotional knowledge

- Decrease in aggression

- Increase in prosocial behaviour (e.g. sharing, helping and including)

- Increase in perceptions among Roots of Empathy students of the classroom as a caring environment

- Increased understanding of infants and parenting

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Conclusion

Conclusion

In conclusion, Roots of Empathy provides children around the world with a different kind of learning experience. One that offers an opportunity that some children never recieve at home. An opportinity to love and acre for another person. By introducing those lessons to kids at a young age, we teach them to grow into the idea of kindness, rather than grow into a life of hurting others for their own self gain.

Credits

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Hayden Power

&

Zoe Ledwez

Sources

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIrrlaA1wbA

https://www.opendemocracy.net/transformation/lennon-flowers/roots-of-empathy-interview-with-mary-gordon

https://rootsofempathy.org/

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/addressing-the-toxins-in-our-hearts-a-conversation_us_5a3c7b0ce4b0d86c803c70a0

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