Parents and teachers in a new survey expressed that the world is experiencing a crisis of kindness. The worry is that the lack in empathy and social awareness is affecting children's development, when kindness is essential to their success as an adult.
At least 70 percent of parents and 86 percent of teachers believe that the world is generally unkind to children in a survey conducted by the Sesame Workshop. Thus, they end up manifesting unkind behaviors because of what they see -- or fail to see -- around them.
Over 2,000 parents were asked about their views, while 500 teachers were asked to participate in the survey. Both groups agree that kids today are generally growing up disrespectful and they also agree that kindness should be more important than achieving good grades in school.
Yet separately, the group of teachers believe that parents today do not encourage their children to be kind; that it's not a priority to cultivate kindness. "Less than half of teachers believe that 'all' or 'most' parents are raising their children to be respectful, and only about a third believe 'all' or 'most' parents are raising children to be empathetic and kind," the study authors note, according to Education World.
However, individually, many parents still feel that they are doing their jobs in raising children who are emphatic and social aware. In fact, at least nine in 10 parents said that their children are kind people. The study authors note that whether imparting kindness lies on the responsibility of the parents or the teacher, what should matter more is that kindness should be practically applied and not just taught as a concept of behavior.
"It's not just the surface, smiling around people and opening a door, saying 'Please' and 'Thank you,' all of which are important," lead author and developmental scientist Jennifer Kotler Clarke said in the report. "But it doesn't end there. It needs to be even deeper than that," she added.
The purpose of the Sesame Workshop study on kindness is to bring to light a glaring issue that could affect the future. "We felt that the world seemed to be lacking in empathy and were concerned what the long-term impact of that would be on children and society as children grow older," the study authors note in the press release. To learn more about the organization's K is for Kindness drive, check out the official site.
Tell us parents, how do you encourage kindness at home? Can you share a few examples on how you cultivate this in your kids? Share your thoughts in the comments!
