Give kids the gift of altruism
As we close in on the holiday season, parents around the world are thinking about what to give their kids. Want something more meaningful than the latest whiz-bang toy for the kids in your life? Try giving the gift of altruism.
Here's an article that takes a look at the benefits of instilling a sense of altruism in kids, and some ideas for how to go about it. It takes more work than whipping out the ol' credit card, and it can only be given over time, but it also has a significant long-term effect:
...And here's added incentive for raising altruistic kids: Ever-growing research shows that altruistic people are healthier, happier and live longer than those who don't give back.
Sociologist Christine Carter has made this subject her life's work. She is the executive director of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, where she studies the roots of happiness in youth. Carter focuses on positive behaviors and helping people raise emotionally literate children.
In the study, "In the Course of a Lifetime," published this year by University of California Press, social scientists followed adolescents born in the 1920s for 50 years and found that those who displayed altruism as teenagers were happier and healthier in the long run.
Carter suggests volunteering as a family.
"All the things that altruism is associated with -- empathy, compassion, caring -- are big parts of social intelligence," she says. "When you instill the desire to be altruistic, the kids get all the positive emotions and time with you."
Here's a suggestion that's near and dear to my "put your passion to work towards positive change that inspires you " heart.
If a child is unwilling to get involved, Carter says, you need to build on their strengths and show what an impact they can have. If your son is an athlete, encourage him to start a soccer league for homeless kids. If your daughter is a good writer, suggest she pen letters to nursing home seniors.
"Teaching them to share their natural gifts is how you build intrinsic instead of extrinsic motivation," Carter says. "The benefits of helping behavior are huge and often overlooked. Adults know the community benefits, but don't often think about the individual benefits."
Some lessons there for all of us, I'd say.
But wait! There's more! The article points out additional benefits of instilling altruism in kids...
Among those is increased confidence. The 2003 Commission on Children at Risk found that helping behavior contributes to diminished depression rates in adolescence. And come junior high school, when preteens begin to look inward, altruism can displace negative emotions, lower stress and increase self-efficacy and confidence, Carter says.
Toys break. Clothes are outgrown or fall out of fashion. Altruism though, lasts a lifetime. And so do its benefits.
Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst TM
Comments