Empathy

Empathy is a vital ingredient in increasing self-esteem in children. To build self-worth, adults must empathize with children, but empathy can be easily misunderstood. Empathy is often confused with sympathy. Sympathy is feeling for someone, whereas empathy is taking another’s perspective, which can be done without any feeling of nurturance. One way of understanding empathy is as a means of data collection—one that is helpful for both the information gleaned and the investment inherent in such an activity. By imagining the child’s inner world, caregivers are able to hypothesize about the child’s experience. Children need adults to act like grown-ups who can serve as role models. Whenever possible and appropriate, with regard to generational boundaries, however, it is best to keep in mind the child’s language when striving to communicate empathy. Empathy is an important ingredient in the formation of meaningful relationships in the classroom.