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What are the foundational elements that build empathy in children? Michele Borba, a parenting, child and bullying expert, researched characteristics of empathetic children and identified nine habits that these children shared.
Read Borba’s article, ‘9 Habits of Empathetic Children’ for a description of each habit and the research behind her model.
Bora’s use of the word “habit” is deliberate. Regular practice builds the necessary skills and values that develop empathy within a child. If you want to help your pupils develop habits that lead to greater empathy, here are two apps and a digital course that you may find useful.
Please test these apps before using them as they reflect North American and Western European cultural norms so may not be appropriate for the cultural context of your pupils and school. Can you recommend apps and resources that are suitable for a different cultural context? Please share these in the Wellbeing and Positive Education Community resource area.
RAKi has nine mini-games that help pre-teens and teens develop their empathy through recognising emotions, conflict resolution, self-affirmation, and other key empathetic elements. The app was developed by academics from the universities of Indiana, Michigan, East Kentucky and Ohio State, with support from technology company HabitatSeven and funding from the John Templeton Foundation. The app was designed to test whether technology could increase empathy. Initial test results suggest that children aged 10-17 who played the app for two months were more likely to respond with compassion to another teen in distress compared to those who played a game that was used as a control within the experiment. For more details about the app and the science behind it, please see this article from teacherswithapps.
Sara Tindall
Learning Technologist
Education Team
Increase empathy in children: There's an app for that
Academics and educators are not the only people who want to help young people develop empathy. Two years ago the National Football League (NFL), the professional American football league, launched the Character Playbook, a free digital course that is designed to help 11-14 year olds cultivate and maintain healthy relationships. It is currently only available to schools in North America, click here to see the course outline.
For younger children, Daisy Chain is an interactive story with game elements that guide the player through challenges in order to overcome bullies. The app is beautifully designed and narrated by Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet. Daisy Chain is advertised as suitable for ages 4+, but younger children may find the graphics a bit unsettling. Click here to see a review of the app on common sense media.
Available on iOS for $0.99, includes in app purchases
Available for free on Android and iOS