It’s true that wellness, including family wellness, is a science but perhaps science have stretched their resources a little bit too far this time. A new study, from the University of British Columbia and the University of California, ‘discovered’ that the wellbeing of children who are kind is better off than those who aren’t, as kids who perform acts of kindness are happier and experience greater acceptance from their peers. Perhaps you could have worked it out from common sense, but still it’s nice to have it confirmed on paper, isn’t it?
The findings are still helpful, however, as the consequences experienced by and from young people who aren’t accepted and happy are even clearer than the ones who are. So, maybe it really is good to see a demonstration of just how important it is to be kind to one another, for your own wellness if not for the wellbeing of others. The scientific proof of this fact could mean a bigger chance to bring about changes for the better in early childhood education.
For the study, which was published by PLOS ONE on boxing day last year, the researchers investigated how to boost happiness in 9-11 years-old students. They asked 400 Vancouver elementary school students to report on their happiness, and which of their classmates they would like to work with on school activities. The children were split into 2 groups – half of which performing acts of kindness like giving hugs or sharing lunch, and the other half keeping track of pleasant places they visited, like the playground or a grandparent’s house.
After 4 weeks, the students were asked the same questions and, though both groups said they were happier, children in the acts of kindness group were selected in higher numbers to work with schoolmates on activities.
According to Kimberly Schonert-Reichl, a professor in UBC’s Faculty of Education, and co-author Kristin Layous, of the University of California, ‘We show that kindness has some real benefits for the personal happiness of children but also for the classroom community’. As bullying tends to rear its ugly head around this age group, Schonert-Reichl advises that ‘teachers can create a sense of connectedness in the classroom and reduce the likelihood of bullying’ by simply asking kids to think about how they can be kind to others. Both authors of the study concluded that ‘Increasing peer acceptance is key to preventing bullying’ and so your kids really could kill them with kindness.
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