How to raise a compassionate child

This is a collaborative post

Compassion includes being kind and helpful towards others and treating them how we ourselves would like to be treated, and also respecting those who are different from us. It’s a vital social skill that children need to learn in order to forge good relationships with others, such as partners, colleagues and friends. Compassionate people who are able to step outside of themselves and think of others also tend to be happier and more content with their lives. If you want to raise a compassionate child, read on for some advice from a prep school in Manchester. 

Model compassion

The best thing we can do as parents to teach our children compassion is demonstrate it ourselves in our daily life. Make sure your child sees you being kind to others and helping them whenever you can, and modelling empathy in your interactions with people. Children learn a lot from watching how their parents and caregivers treat people and respond to events, so seeing you being considerate to everyone you meet will teach your child that that’s an appropriate way to move through the world. 

Practise gratitude

People who are grateful for the things and people in their life tend to be more compassionate towards others, because they understand that they could find themselves in more unfortunate circumstances one day. Gratitude promotes generosity, so encourage your child to spend some time each day thinking about all the good things in their life, even if they’ve had a bad day or something’s gone wrong and upset them. Help them find the silver lining and explain that it’s always there if we look for it. This will get them into the habit of approaching life positively and using that sense of optimism to help and inspire others. 

Explore feelings

Part of being compassionate is knowing how to identify and explore our own big feelings so we can more effectively understand them in others. Help your child express their emotions in whatever way they feel comfortable – it could be through cutting pictures out to make a collage or watching movies that stir particular emotions in them. Being able to tap into their feelings and process them in a healthy way will help them become more aware of what other people might be going through, which is important for developing empathy. 

Life presents us with so many opportunities to practise compassion towards others, so get your child involved in thinking of and helping others as much as possible so this becomes a lifelong trait.