Five ways to raise kind kids

by Amy Joyce | Washington Post

A Harvard psychologist gives 5 ways to raise kind kids

Richard Weissbourd, a Harvard psychologist who runs the Making Caring Common project, is aiming to teach kids to be kind.

You’d think that parents are teaching that themselves, right? Not so, according to a new study released by the group.

About 80 per cent of the youth in the study said their parents were more concerned with their achievement or happiness than whether they cared for others. The interviewees were also three times more likely to agree that “My parents are prouder if I get good grades in my classes than if I’m a caring community member in class and school.”

Weissbourd and his cohorts have come up with recommendations about how to raise children to become caring, respectful and responsible adults. Why is this important? Because if we want our children to be moral people, we have to, well, raise them that way.

“Children are not born simply good or bad and we should never give up on them. They need adults who will help them become caring, respectful, and responsible for their communities at every stage of their childhood,” the researchers write.

Read the five strategies to raise kind kids here >>