Does your child show compassion and empathy towards his siblings or others? Or is he being insensitive? Usually, when you think of cultivating empathy in children, especially boys, mum will come to your mind as she has the greatest influence on her children. But did you know that a dad’s engagement in the family has more influence on raising empathetic and considerate children?
According to Ross Parke, Ph.D., at the University of California at Riverside, dads are just as good at reading baby emotional cues as mums are, but they respond in different ways1. Research shows that without a doubt, dads are an integral part of their sons’ healthy emotional, physical, and cognitive growth from their first moments of life. Boys whose fathers love them and can demonstrate that love in consistent, caring ways have fewer problems later in life with peers, academics, and delinquent behaviour. One study tracked a group of boys and girls for twenty-six years, exploring the roles of both mothers and fathers in nurturing emotional health and empathy.2
Hence, be in the know on how you can play your role in raising an empathetic son!
1. Be a Role Model
Dad may influence their sons, but it is also very important that he creates an atmosphere of empathy from home – for example, being attentive and empathetic towards his partner’s (mum) problem. Helping her to solve the issue and being considerate while making her happy again. When you show empathy to others, your son will notice.
2. Be Expressive
You can use moments when your child expresses emotions, whether joyful or sad moments. Talk about it. Ask him what he feels and explain to him about the emotion he’s feeling. For instance, his class teacher praised his artwork, and he felt so happy about it, so ask him why he was joyful and help him to understand his emotions.
3. Practice Empathising
Practice with your child on empathising – perhaps towards his pet when his dog or kitty is sick, and coach him to be caring towards his pet. Teach him to feed, care, and groom his pet. Another scenario could be when he’s playing at the playground and sees a girl get injured from falling. He can offer to help her or be empathetic about her situation.
4. Sibling Talk
Educate your children on how to read emotions in others, especially among siblings. When one fights with another, some siblings have very different temperaments, and these kids tend to fight more often unless the older child’s temper is easygoing. In a situation like this, guide them to open up to each other and talk out the issues. Ultimately, they will improve their skills to be empathetic.
5. Words of Praises
When your child displays empathy without you coaching him, praise his behaviour. Let’s not overdo it, but just affirming his act of kindness will help him to be more compassionate towards his brother, sister or his school peers.
6. Celebrate Individuality
It is very important to teach your child that everyone is different and those differences are not bad at all. That’s what makes a person unique, so celebrate the difference while being tolerant, patient, understanding, and considerate of the feelings of others.
Parenting is about both mum and dad raising their kids together and instilling good teaching in them from a young age. Both mum and dad play bigger roles in raising their children, be it physically, mentally, or emotionally.
Referring to this quote, “Becoming a dad means you have to be a role model for your son and be someone he can look up to” – Wayne Rooney. Thus seeding your child with good valuable teaching from a young is essential. Fathers are just like mothers; they’re pillars in the development of a child’s emotional well-being, and raising an empathetic child is one of the vital roles of a father.
