(NAME-MCE) Anti-bullying program aims to teach students empathy

[Anselmo Villanueva]

Canadian program uses empathy to tackle bullying

A 4-month-old baby is helping Seattle fourth- and fifth-graders learn
empathy and other so-called emotional literacy skills. The Roots of Empathy
program, which originated in Canada and is now employed in several countries
and launching in the U.S. this year in the Seattle area, invites local
parents to bring their newborns into classrooms to help school children
learn bonding and empathy. The program was shown to have reduced aggressive
behaviors such as bullying in 88% of children tracked in a 2001 University
of British Columbia study. Seattle
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Saturday, December 29, 2007
Anti-bullying program aims to teach students empathy

By JESSICA BLANCHARD <jessicablanchard at seattlepi.com>
Post Intelligence Newspaper, Seattle WA

At 4 months old, Matthew Moretsky can't yet crawl, roll over or speak
coherently -- but he's already attracted a fan club.

On his most recent visit to Kim Rothschild's classroom at Dearborn Park
Elementary, Matthew lies at one end of a vibrant green rug, surrounded by a
circle of adoring fourth- and fifth-graders.

"Who's the most important person in the room?" school counselor Kate
Tillotson asks.

"Matthew!" they chorus.

It's been three weeks since Matthew's last visit to the southeast Seattle
school, and the students are eager to see how he's grown. They gasp as he
rests on a foam roll in the center of the room and lifts his head up. They
coo over his tiny feet, and giggle when he constantly puts his hands in his
mouth.

The visits are part of a pilot program in a handful of Seattle-area
elementary schools this year that aims to enhance students' "emotional
literacy" skills.

The program, Roots of Empathy, revolves around the idea that if children can
learn to identify and understand how other people feel, and better
communicate their own feelings, they'll be less aggressive and less likely
to bully other students.

In each classroom, students are introduced to a local newborn and the
parents, who visit the class nine times during the year. During each
session, a certified Roots of Empathy instructor urges the students to
monitor the baby's development, watch how it responds to different
situations and try to interpret what it's feeling.

It's only Matthew's third visit to Dearborn Park, but the children have
already become attached. They watch him intently, share observations with
each other and speculate about what he's thinking or feeling.

"They've developed their own bond with him," said Matthew's father, Michael
Moretsky. "It's a fantastic program for everyone involved, including
Matthew. ... I think he really enjoys this."
Learning to care

Former kindergarten teacher Mary Gordon founded Roots of Empathy in Toronto
in 1996 in hopes of finding a way to break the cycle of domestic violence,
poverty and bullying she had observed in some of her students.

"The common denominator in all this suffering meted out on children ... was
the perpetrator did not have empathy for what they were doing," she said.
"Empathy is something you only get by experience or by having someone model
it for you."

She developed a curriculum that emphasizes caring, respect, social
responsibility, diversity and infant safety, and is adapted for students in
kindergarten through eighth grade. Each session focuses on a theme, such as
caring and planning for the baby, and includes plenty of time for students
to observe the bond between baby and parent.

The program was registered as a charity in 2000 and is now used throughout
Canada and several other countries. It's been credited with reducing
bullying, improving children's critical-thinking skills and helping instill
empathy in children who may never have experienced it in their lives.

A 2001 University of British Columbia study found that 88 percent of
children who had completed the Roots of Empathy program showed a decrease in
aggressive behaviors such as bullying. "When empathy goes up, bullying goes
down," Gordon said.

The program is making its U.S. debut in the Seattle area this year. In
addition to Dearborn Park, the curriculum is being tested at Sacajawea
Elementary, John Stanford International School and West Seattle Elementary
in Seattle; Emerald Park Elementary in Kent; and the private Westside School
in southwest Seattle.

Seattle Public Schools officials plan to expand the program to 30 classrooms
in 2009, paid for by donations from local philanthropists.
Questions and giggles

Throughout the 45-minute session at Dearborn Park, the children study
Matthew's movements and look for visual clues, trying to determine his moods
and his personality.

At one point, his father offers Matthew a bottle and the baby isn't
interested.

"Is he kind of mad right now?" one boy asks tentatively. "Because he seemed
to be trying to spit out the bottle."

Michael Moretsky says no, Matthew's just more interested in what's going on
in the room around him -- but if the baby's upset, he definitely lets his
dad know.

The kids continue to pepper Moretsky with questions: "Is he crawling yet?"
"Can he see farther now?" "Why don't you use formula?" "What do you do when
he gets fussy?" "How many times do you change his diaper each day?"

Matthew, who apparently has a great sense of timing, chooses that moment to
loudly fill his diaper. The kids erupt in giggles.

During the ensuing diaper change, Moretsky passes a new diaper around the
circle for students to feel and fields more rapid-fire questions. The
children want to know why he chose disposables vs. cloth ones, how much
diapers cost and how he can tell whether Matthew is comfortable in his
diaper.

No question is taboo, and parents who volunteer for the program have to be
prepared to be very open about their lives, their emotions and the costs of
raising a child.

Moretsky said he's been impressed by both the quality and quantity of
students' questions.

"Sometimes it's hard to believe they're fourth- and fifth-graders," he said.
"They've asked questions I've never thought of myself."
'Massive' covert bullying

Bullying in schools has been a problem for decades, despite attempts to
thwart it.

Seattle Public Schools has an anti-harassment policy that bans bullying,
encourages staff members to intervene when they see it happening and allows
students to make anonymous complaints.

Still, in a spring 2006 survey, about one-third of Seattle elementary
students and more than one in five middle school students reported that they
had been bullied in the past year.

With the rise of text messaging and social networking Web sites, there are
new venues for bullies to attack. "It's insidious," Gordon said. "The overt
bullying, any adult can control. But the covert bullying is massive."

When students are able to put themselves in the victim's shoes and
understand how it might feel, though, they're more likely to police their
peers and intercede to stop bullying behavior when they see it, she said.

Tillotson, the school counselor, said she's already noticed changes in some
of her students.

"The kids who are most attuned and asking questions are often the ones who
had been in trouble or suspended," she said.

During a recent session, a boy who had been in trouble at school tenderly
held Matthew, looked at him directly and talked to him softly.

Tillotson gestured around her office. "There's nothing in this room that can
have the same effect."

P-I reporter Jessica Blanchard can be reached at 206-448-8322 or
jessicablanchard at seattlepi.com.