We all have feelings or emotions, sometimes we can feel sad, be happy, maybe angry, scared, or excited, but not everyone feels the same way about the same things. Here is where empathy is important; we are empathetic when we are able to understand how others might be feeling.
For example, when we go to the beach my youngest daughter (Paula) likes to go body boarding, she is fearless, but her friend Emma is afraid of the waves, she prefers to play with the sand on the beach. I explained to my daughter that even though she’s not afraid of waves she is frightened by other things (like darkness), then she was able to understand what her friend was feeling about getting in the water. Now, when we go to the beach with Emma, my daughter doesn’t insist on going body boarding, instead she enjoys some time with Emma playing in the sand making castles and collecting shells.
When we are empathetic, we are able to read gestures or attitudes and understand how others are feeling, with this ability we can show sympathy by doing or saying something towards them; empathy is not only about figuring out how someone feels, but also caring enough to do something about it.
We can teach our children about empathy by example, they learn from watching us and from experiencing our empathy for them. Here are some other ways to teach our children empathy.
