The violence children see in the media and even on the playground can de-sensitize them to other people's feelings.  That's why it is so important to help your children also experience compassion and kindness. Children learn what they live.

The first five years of children's development influence their later ability to show compassion. According to human development specialists at the University of Missouri, children are more apt to develop compassion if they are provided with a foundation of trust, consistency and positive guidance.

Helping instill compassion in children

• Show your children they are loved
• Tell what behavior is acceptable and unacceptable
• Help kids understand consequences of their choices 
• Explain how to put themselves in another's place
• Discipline primarily through reasoning 
• Show by example how to treat others 
• Give opportunities to perform small acts of kindness 
• Don't stereotype girls' and boys' capacity for empathy
• Explicitly denounce acts of violence

Set a good example

• Help an elderly neighbor
• Donate canned goods to a food pantry
• Give money or a kind word to a homeless person
• Provide your children with other role models, such as family members and friends who are kind and caring
• Encourage your children to do volunteer work in the community, such as visiting people in nursing homes or helping the disabled
• Encourage your children to take care of a pet