How can we teach our students to be kind and display empathetic characteristics? How can we support them to engage effectively with those who are different than them, and think of others, not just themselves? Displaying empathy is an important skill that we can teach our students. Some of the ways to teach our students to be thoughtful and kind to one another is through interactive experiences and games. The purpose of this game is to provide students ages 10-15 with an opportunity to experience what it feels like to be kind and to have someone else treat them with kindness. Students also experience what it feels like to be unkind, and to be treated unkindly. Students work in pairs, and at the end of the game, the class reflects on the experience together.
Rethink Mental Health
Rethink Mental Health is a non-profit organization that developed and distributes the H.E.A.R.T. social-emotional curriculum for schools. H.E.A.R.T. is a social-emotional learning (SEL) program geared towards improving the way adolescents between the ages of 10 and 15 treat others and themselves. As a result of participating in the H.E.A.R.T. program, schools can create a more empathetic, responsible and emotionally resilient generation of youth while effectively reducing bullying and creating a culture of safety, health and wellness at the school and beyond.
