How Kids Are Learning Empathy at School
How Kids Are Learning Empathy at School H ow do you put a stop to bullying? For a primary school in Cambridge, England, the answer lay in a work of fiction. For years, one class had had “real problems with bullying and damaging relationships,” says teacher Helen Mulligan . Malorie Blackman’s book Cloudbusting , the story of an unlikely friendship between two boys, offered a way to explore relevant issues without making it personal and potentially worsening the situation. The pupils discussed the roles and perspectives of each character — bully, victim, bystander, supporter — and what needed to change. “Children who played particular roles were suddenly able to see themselves in the characters,” Mulligan explained in a video testimonial. She saw pupils, who for years had not considered their own actions, “suddenly reflect, analyze and amend the behavior of the characters in the books — and then follow through themselves.” Children learning about empathy at Pembroke Dock Community Primary in W…
