Raising Kinder Kids

If you’ve read my other posts, you know I often ask HOW do we support our boys in living happier and healthier lives. Central to this effort is to empower them to expand their narrow gender role. Part of this expansion is being encouraged to and celebrated for being empathetic and kind. I recently came across an article that offers a plan for raising kinder kids: How to raise kind children according to Harvard researchers. Cope with feelings, modeling kindness, practice being nice, and seeing multiple perspectives — I felt a sense of wonderment reading these tips. The plan was prompted by research that found:

“Between 2013 and 2014, as part of Harvard’s Making Caring Common project, researchers surveyed 10,000 middle and high school students across the nation. They found that no matter what race, class or culture the kids identified with, the majority of the students surveyed valued their own personal success and happiness way more than that of others. Why do kids value their own success so much more than things like caring and fairness? Well, apparently, mom and dad told them to. Eighty percent of the 10,000 students said their parents taught them that their own happiness and high achievement were more important than caring for others. (So much for sharing is caring.)”

So to all the parents out there brainstorming, pondering, researching, discussing, and planning how we can best support our kiddos, please be kind to yourself, and thank you!

Find the Super Kind shirt at Free to Be Kids