Raising Compassionate Kids: Here's Why Parents Must Teach Compassion to Their Children by Tanya Kuzmanovic

Our ability to feel compassion is what makes us human. Yet it's not always a simple, straightforward or easily arrived at destination. Especially when your knee-jerk reaction leans toward judgment and cynicism (I’m speaking for myself here).

Where compassion is concerned, the tougher sells are typically the ones most in need – the bullies, the perpetrators, the criminals, the mean-spirited, even the downright annoying. Compassion isn’t a privilege reserved only for the downtrodden elite; it’s a basic right that all human beings deserve.

Feeling compassion toward another doesn't mean you agree with them or believe their actions are justified. It doesn’t require you understand their motives or forgive their behavior. All it involves is the act of metaphorically putting yourself into another person’s shoes, acknowledging possible reasons behind their behavior and actions and actively working toward acceptance. Attempting to think more compassionately is a much healthier alternative to feeling obsessive anger.

It is often something best explained, modeled and monitored until it eventually becomes second nature – to ourselves and our children.