Studies suggest display of empathy can improve overall social and emotional intelligence. In children, such altruistic traits are innate and can possibly develop into lifelong habits through time and experiences, given they are nurtured with prudence or care.
At Enabling Leadership, every day our coaches and teachers work with children with unique idiosyncrasies, temperaments and qualities. The most important role we play (as facilitators) during our sessions is to guide and allow children to manage their own actions as well as learning experiences. In response, children naturally tend to express their feeling when they are given such independence.
Pavan, an 11-year-old EL Play student from Holy Crescent School whom I’ve been coaching for more than 2 years is one such student who captures my attention through his keen sense of responsibility and empathy towards others.
Simple things like helping his teammates who are finding a certain skill/technique challenging and treating all his teammates equally go to show his broad awareness. These are things that he himself acts upon. Anyone who has a 10-minute conversation will be in awe at his congeniality.
The particular batch that Pavan and his teammates belong to undergo training in the morning, that is, before school starts at 9:00 am. Due to this children either have something light before they leave home or either fail to eat their breakfast which is essential for their age. One fine day Pavan, as responsible as ever, comes up with a simple yet practical approach to address the problem. He asked me to help him to create subgroups within the batch. Then he suggests that each group should take responsibility to ensure each one of them have breakfast, even if it means sharing what one has with others in the group.
Since then, I make sure that I carry an extra whistle which he enjoys using to request his teammates to eat their breakfast after their sessions every day. The real mark of this team begins here, their ability to sit in a circle, have a laugh, and share each other’s food. This simple act of kindness from one student has left an everlasting impact on his teammates. Although I’m yet to dive into their breakfast, he’s definitely instilled a change in me, to carry my breakfast for sessions.
More significantly, within the team, a few students who generally miss out on bringing food, have started carrying their own. This indicates the impression he has created through this small act. To me, as their coach, It’s evident that each of them deeply cares about one other and feeds off each other’s positives.
Storyline and facts by Anand Ravichandran (EL Play, Bengaluru)