Perspective leads to empathy

One practice towards fostering empathy in my students and my own children is to encourage them to see situations from other peoples’ perspectives. Even if something has not happened to them directly I want them to understand that it still matters.  One way I try to teach this is by using a story and asking them to see the story from the other person’s perspective.

My favorite example is the story of Goldilocks and the 3 bears.   This classic story is told from Goldilocks point of view, however, what if ask children to consider how the Bears felt about someone coming into their home uninvited, eating their breakfast, breaking their chairs and sleeping in their beds!  Looking at the story from this angle we  find more empathy for the Bears because we can relate to what it would be like if someone did that in our home.

The same approach can be used when we are talking with children about real world circumstances that may not directly affect them, yet, we want them to cultivate a feeling of empathy towards those that are touched by a certain situation.   Recently both my daughters had birthdays and we spoke about donating a gift to an organization called Birthday Wishes.  Birthday Wishes collects gifts and toys and then distributes them to children who may not otherwise have a birthday celebration. For many young children giving away a toy they just received is not an easy ask and this is understandable. However, if we can tell them the story from the other child’s point of view (eg: “can you imagine what it would feel like to not have a birthday celebration and not receive any presents) we can open up a dialogue and hopefully create more empathy and understanding for the other person’’s circumstance.