LECTURE
Roots of Empathy: responsive parenting, caring societies
Mary Gordon
Roots of Empathy Program(Received for publication on Feb 6, 2003)

Abstract. What is common in aggression and in abusive/neglectful parenting is low levels of empathy.
Fostering empathy – the ability to identify with another person’s feelings – can serve as an antidote
to aggression and is crucial to good parenting. Poor parenting and aggression cut across all socioeconomic levels of the community and, as such, empathy needs to be fostered in all children. During
the period of rapid brain development, adversity has a devastating impact on the baby’s developing
brain. Repeated experiences of stress are hardwired into the brain, creating damaging pathways. Risk
factors such as domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, maternal depression, maternal addictions,and poverty are not just additive to the vulnerable developing brain; they are multiplicative in theirimpact. The parent is the baby’s lifeline, mitigating stress for them and helping them to learn to regulate their emotions. The impact of poor parenting on a child’s life is profound, resulting in insecureattachments which lead to a spectrum of inadequate coping mechanisms, poor emotional regulation,
diminished learning potential and low competence. Responsive and nurturing parenting is the key
to optimal early childhood development; it allows the young brain to develop in a way that is lessaggressive and more emotionally stable, social and empathic. Good early childhood development leads
to good human development. We must match our investment where the opportunity is most ripe –building parenting capacity. The ‘Roots of Empathy’ program offers real hope in breaking the intergenerational transference of poor parenting and violence. (Keio J Med 52 (4): 236–243, December 2003)
Key words: Aggression, attachment, early childhood development, empathy, parenting

Introduction
Roots of Empathy is an innovative parenting program which was ﬁrst introduced in a small number ofschools in Toronto ﬁve years ago. Today it is thriving inclose to 800 classrooms across Canada; it is respected asbringing a message of hope to communities striving toensure that its young people will build a culture of caring within a peaceful society.
The Problem that Roots of Empathy Seeks to AddressChildren are living in a world where they are exposed to escalating incidents of violence and violent
methods of problem-solving. Growing ranks of disaffected, marginalized, and isolated people all too often
resort to violence, publicly and privately. At the family and neighbourhood level, children are increasingly

experiencing a harsh tone, as evidenced by an increasein domestic violence, child abuse – both physical andsexual, child and youth violence (male and female), andbullying. If children’s real life experiences conﬁrm or
mirror the violence that they see in the ever pervasive screens in their lives – television, video games, theinternet, movies, and print media, they are adversely
affected and are likely to become violent.
In this period of major economic and social change,
the family experiences signiﬁcant stress. Children areoften inadequately nurtured and parenting is undervalued. Poor parenting, especially if abusive or neglectful, results in a cascade of damaging outcomes for children. Overcoming the devastation of a bad start in life
is extraordinarily difﬁcult and usually unsuccessful, andhas signiﬁcant economic and social implications for society in addition to the suffering of the individual.
What is common in violence and in abusive/
neglectful parenting is low levels of empathy. Fostering

Presented at the 1296th Meeting of the Keio Medical Society in Tokyo, November 26, 2002.
Reprint requests to: Mary Gordon, Roots of Empathy, 401 Richmond Street West, Suite 205, Toronto M5V 3A8, Canada, e-mail: mgordon@rootsofempathy.org, website: www.rootsofempathy.org
236

Keio J Med 2003; 52 (4): 236–243

empathy – the ability to identify with another person’s
feelings – can serve as an antidote to violence and is
crucial to good parenting. Poor parenting and violencecuts across all socio-economic levels of the community
and, as such, empathy needs to be fostered in all children.
The Impact of Poor Parenting and Low Levelsof Empathy
The neurobiology of child abuse paints us a disturbing picture of a baby’s brain showing:
diminished capacities
an increased likelihood of poor health outcomes0
an inability to form meaningful relationships0
low levels of empathy
00Recent brain research1 indicates that since the brain
is an experience-dependent organ, negative experiencessuch as child abuse contribute to the sculpting of thebrain. The brain of an abused child looks substantiallydifferent from the brain of a non-abused child. The
brain is the pathway to learning, behaviour, and even
health, casting a long shadow.
Early childhood development is actually a measureof brain development. During the period of rapid brain
development, in the ﬁrst few years of life, adversity has
a devastating impact on the baby’s developing brain.
Stress hormones are released, bathing the brain in
destructive cortisol. Repeated stress experiences hardwire the brain, creating damaging pathways. Risk factors such as domestic violence, child abuse and neglect,
maternal depression, maternal addictions, and poverty
are not just additive to the vulnerable developing brain;
they are multiplicative in their impact. Bruce S. McEwen of the Rockefeller University has recently theorized that: ‘‘over activation of stress response systems, areaction that may be necessary for short term survival,
increases the risk for obesity, type two diabetes, andhypertension; leads to a host of psychiatric problems
including a heightened risk of suicide; and accelerates
the aging and degeneration of brain structures.’’2
Every child should be raised on a banquet of love,
but far too many children are incubated in terror. The
parent is the baby’s lifeline, mitigating stress for themand helping them to learn to regulate their emotions.
The earliest period of human development has alifelong impact. At all income levels, parenting has
a powerful impact on how well children do, on who
they become. The child experiences the world throughthe lens of parenting. The most important impact ofparenting in the early years is the quality of the attachment that the baby makes to his or her parent(s). This
relationship is crucial because it forms a template forevery subsequent relationship in life. If this template is237

fractured by neglect or abuse, an insecure attachment
will be formed, and will be stamped on the child’s brain
for life.
It is the quality of the baby’s attachment to his or her
chief caregiver that determines how they regulate theiremotions. If this relationship is fraught with violenceor neglect, the stress of this experience may sculpt thebrain to exhibit various antisocial behaviours. This earlyemotional regulation, set in the brain, is the link toemotional control in later life. People who are unable
to regulate their emotions often become violent whenupset.
Baby boys who have harsh or unresponsive parenting, when identiﬁed as aggressive on school entry, areat great risk of becoming increasingly aggressive, dropping out of school, becoming unemployed and becoming involved with the criminal justice system.
As a society, we are experiencing mounting emotional ineptitude, as demonstrated by Shaken Baby
Syndrome and other forms of child abuse, domestic violence, road rage, and emotions ‘‘out of control’’. These
trace their way back to parenting in the early years oflife. The young child’s coping and competence skills
develop in these earliest years. The impact of poor
parenting on a child’s life is profound, resulting in insecure attachments which lead to a litany of inadequate
coping mechanisms, poor emotional regulation, diminished learning potential and low competence later inlife. Responsive and nurturing parenting, therefore, isthe key to optimal early childhood development as itallows the young brain to develop in a way that is lessaggressive and more emotionally stable, social andempathic. Good early childhood development leads togood human development. Responsiveness is necessary
for growth.
If we ever hope to have peaceful, civil and caring
societies, we must match our investment where theopportunity is most ripe – building parenting capacity.
The sculpting of the brain in the early years of life isdirectly related to the levels of violence we can expect
in society in the next generation. As we sow, so shall wereap when it comes to the way we parent our children.
The Challenges in the Canadian Context
Facts
29% of women have experienced a physical assault in
an intimate relationship.3
0
half of Canadian women (51% have been victims of atleast one act of physical or sexual violence since theage of 16.3
040 women are killed in the province of Ontario, Canada every year by current or former intimate partners,
accounting for 75% of female homicides.30238

Women who were abused in childhood are more
likely to suffer from depression, low self-esteem andsuicidal thoughts.3
0Child abuse can cause permanent damage to the neural structure and functioning of the developing brain.4
0135,573 investigations of abuse and neglect of children
under 16 were conducted in Canada in 1998. Fortyﬁve percent of these investigations (61,201) were substantiated.4
019% of babies hospitalized for Shaken Baby Syndrome die. Of those who survive 55% have ongoingneurological injury and 65% have visual impairment.5
0
The combined incidence of fetal alcohol-related abnormalities has been estimated to be about 0.91% in
the general population and as high as 10%–20% of
the population in some Native communities.6
0

The new knowledge base of what constitutes healthy
child development is starting to affect Canadian policies
in positive ways. The linking of early childhood development to people’s later health, well-being, and competence is causing Canadian provinces to rethink the
traditional mismatch of investment and opportunity inthese areas. Canadians are gradually coming to termswith the concept of pay now or pay much more later,when it comes to supporting early childhood development. The Government of Canada, last year created a
National Children’s Agenda that dispersed generous
amounts of money to the ten Canadian provinces andterritories. This money was targeted to supports forthe early years – the period of zero to six years of age.
Parenting supports were included, as the early years is
closely linked to parenting capacity. Roots of Empathy
has been funded through this source in some provinces.
In Canada, the Federal Government has been sharing results of the National Longitudinal Survey ofChildren and Youth (NLSCY).7 This report has ﬂagged
a key ﬁnding which is impacting policy development
throughout the country. Like The Early Years Study –Three Years Later of Ontario,8 the NLSCY found thatparenting ability is more important than family income
when looking at children’s school performance and behavioural problems. The ramiﬁcations of this change
in our thinking leads to the provision of universal
programs for children and parents, replacing our previously held belief that it was poor families who had thechildren with problems. The NLSCY looked at children according to their socio-economic backgrounds.
As expected, the lowest quartile had the highest percentage of children with academic problems or behavioural issues. These problems also existed in the highest
quartile, albeit at a lower percentage. However, thesurprising result was that the largest number of children, (not percentage), with problems are in the middle
class. Fixing poverty will not ﬁx children’s problems.

Gordon M: Roots of Empathy

We still need clinical programs for children with serious
problems. And we still need targeted programs. If we
do not provide universal programs that will include themiddle class, we will not have the social capital, withstrong coping skills and competence, which is required
for a country to be economically viable in this new millennium. Thus Roots of Empathy is delivered throughthe universal vehicle of the public education system as apreventative program.
Underlying economic and social changes, unfolding
in a virtual revolution, have wounded the capacity offamilies to support optimal early childhood development. The growth of the nuclear family, the increasing
isolation of parents, the soaring rate of participation in
the workforce of mothers of children under six years ofage (66% and growing in Canada) have stressed families as never before.
Critical Issues: A Universal Perspective
The genesis of violence is the story of the quality ofparenting that a child receives and the nature of theattachment a child forms to his or her chief caregiver.
0
The explosion of information from the ﬁeld of neuroscience has given us a picture of the impact that severe stress (abuse, neglect, witnessing family violence)has on a young child. This stress can leave an indelible
imprint on the structure and function of the brain,
which is extremely difﬁcult to reverse.
0
Once children are of school age, the single most important thing that we can do to advance pro social(non-violent) behaviour and effective parenting forthe next generation is to foster the development of
empathy. As empathy rises, aggression falls.
0

Deﬁning the barriers to addressing the critical issues
The way that our society looks at the problems ofviolence and poor parenting is punitive. We have ample
research on their negative impact but are sorely lacking
the policies that should grow out of this research andthe enabling programs that would serve as prevention.
One such program is Roots of Empathy.
The issue of violence has been so difﬁcult to solve
because we have not understood the root causes of violence. The approach that has been taken is to punish
individuals when they are young and to incarceratethem when they are of legal age. This is rarely effective,
as children decide to get even, and rates of recidivism
rise.
We have policies that address child abuse, but none
for in between birth and abuse. We have no policies
that commit to teach parenting to school aged children.
Parenting education has traditionally been geared toparents already in the trenches. There has been no

Keio J Med 2003; 52 (4): 236–243

comprehensive parenting education available and there
have been fragmented entry points. Lack of money,lack of time, and in some cases, stigma have been major
deterrents.
Traditionally violence of any sort has been addressed
after the fact, through punitive measures. Successfulinterventions have been rare, as evidenced by recidivism of violent men and the fact that aggression ‘‘starts
small and grows’’ according to Dr. Dan Offord, Director of the Canadian Centre for Studies of Children
at Risk (This has recently been renamed ‘‘the Offord
Centre for Child Studies’’).9 Violence and aggression inchildhood have typically been addressed in targeted
ways, which have proven to be exasperatingly unsuccessful.
The root causes of violence are seldom addressed in
the school system. Current elementary school programs
that attempt to address violence pay scant attention to
the development of empathy and caring, emotional literacy, and the parenting capacity of the next generation. Aggressive children are removed from the classroom, punished, and forced into stigmatizing social
skills programs that have a notoriously low success rate.
These children tend to become bitter about being singled out, and instead of getting better, they tend to seek
revenge.
However, the profound absence of empathy in those
who abuse children and perpetrators of violence ingeneral has recently been recognized by the child protection and criminal justice systems. One recent ray ofhope in the treatment of child abusers has been to include a component of empathy training along with theirpunishment. Research has indicated that people who
abuse their children have difﬁculty in recognizing thevisual manifestation of emotion. They often misreadfear for anger and respond inappropriately, thereby
creating an intergenerational lack of empathy.
Poor parenting has typically been addressed by offering group discussion type parenting classes after theparent has already demonstrated that he or she is introuble. The strength of some of these programs is in
their ability to offer support and alternate strategies.
The weakness in this sort of program is that, as soon as
the group is over and the support is gone, the original
parenting practices return in much the same way thatpeople on a group diet or exercise program do well withthe group support but have a poor follow-through rate
when the group support is over.
The overall weakness in the traditional ways inwhich we have addressed poor parenting practices,child abuse, spousal abuse, instrumental aggression,and bullying is to fail to recognize that the brain has
become hard-wired to certain responses over time andit is incredibly difﬁcult to ‘‘unlearn’’ behaviours which
are sculpted in the brain as a result of early experiences.

239

Hence the rationale for breaking inter-generational
cycles and teaching children the antecedents of goodparenting.
In Canada, the struggle continues to ﬁnd ways toheal the profound damage perpetrated on Aboriginal
peoples from coast to coast. The Inuu in Labrador havetold me that they no longer know how to parent because as children they were removed from their families
by the government and placed in residential schools,
thereby losing the model of parenting and the powerof their culture, and they have no memory of how to
reinvent it. The efforts to build parenting capacity andto address the high incidence of child abuse, domestic
violence, and suicide of youth have been spectacularly
unsuccessful. There has not been an understanding of
the damage that has been done to the brain through theharshness of life, such as the impact of alcohol abuse on
developing fetuses (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder).
Other losses less obvious to the outside observer are
the withering of culture and loss of ﬁrst language.
Breaking the Cycle of Aggression
with Roots of Empathy
By empathy, I mean the ability to understand how
the other person feels, to be able to take the other’s
perspective. A good society provides the ways andmeans for empathy and solidarity. Without empathy,
there will be no altruism. If we want to have caring
societies in the future we must start building them today. Violence has become a world-wide public healthissue. We must address the growing concern around theglobe that our youth are becoming callous, uncaring
and violent; that the world is becoming an increasingly
unsafe place. Bullying in schools has become a worldwide epidemic. When you raise levels of empathy you
decrease levels of aggression and violence. Children
who understand how other people feel are less likely tohurt them.
Roots of Empathy (ROE) is dedicated to building
caring and peaceful societies through the developmentof empathy in children. It is a parenting education program for elementary school students (between the agesof 3 to 14 years) based on monthly visits to the classroom by a parent and infant from the school neighbourhood.
A trained ROE Instructor coaches students to observe, over the school year, how their baby forms anattachment to his or her parent. The infant’s development is chronicled and children learn to recognize theirbaby’s cues and unique temperament, while celebrating
developmental milestones. Children are prepared for
responsible and responsive parenting as they increase
their knowledge about human development, learning,
and infant safety. The program fosters the development

240

of empathy and emotional literacy:
As children learn to take the perspective of others
they are less likely to hurt through bullying, exclusion,
aggression, and violence.
0Children learn how to challenge cruelty and injusticein their own classroom.
0
Principles of democracy thrive in the ROE classroom.
0
Messages of social inclusion and activities that areconsensus-building contribute to a culture of caringthat changes the tone of the classroom.
0
ROE fathers provide rich models of male nurturance.
0

The Instructor conducts additional sessions before
and after each family visit for a total of 27 sessions overthe course of a year. The curriculum has four levels
for four different age groups from pre-kindergarten to
Grade 8.
In its push for academic accountability, education
has neglected the affective side of the developing student. The current focus in education is on scholastic
achievement with little emphasis on issues that affectcivility and the quality of life.
The Roots of Empathy (ROE) program addresses
this gap in innovative ways:
ROE uses the universal access point of public education to deliver public health messages that can prevent
infant injury and abuse, advance optimal early childhood development, and reduce violence and aggression.
0
The ROE program is based on experiential learningand uses a concrete, hands-on, interactive approach,demonstrating empathy by means of observing theloving relationship between a parent and infant.
Children’s early attachments have a vital inﬂuence on
their brain development. The quality of communication between children and parents is paramount – notonly is the family communication system the basis ofliteracy learning but it is also the foundation of theability to learn from experience. In the ROE class, theinstructor demonstrates how a parent can capitalize
on a baby’s interests and erect the scaffold on whichlearning is built. When parents and caregivers mediatea baby’s experiences by extending the communication
around the baby’s interests, the baby’s learning isincreased. The students in the classroom learn how
to have authentic communication with the baby andlearn that you don’t have to quiz a child and control
the conversation in order to have learning happen.
Babies and young children learn best when we follow
their interests and make them our own. This encouragement opens the pathway to ‘‘learning how tolearn’’. There is profound impact on the quality of theinteraction between baby and parent if the parent’s
response contains afﬁrmations instead of prohibitions.
0

Gordon M: Roots of Empathy

A steady menu of demands or criticism adversely
affects the baby’s learning. Imperatives have the effectof shutting off learning. (‘‘Eat your food’’ instead of‘‘Now, it’s time to eat’’ – so many children hear only
this kind of communication.) The quality of communication has everything to do with how the childlearns and views himself.
0
The ROE program teaches cognitive, social and emotional milestones in the baby’s development, not justphysical aspects of development.
0
The idea of using a live baby to develop empathy instudents is, I think, unprecedented. There have beenother programs that have attempted to teach parenting through the live model of a parent and baby, butthese programs have dealt with the physical aspects ofparenting, not the emotional literacy of the child. The
ROE program goes far deeper because not only doesit educate about the physical aspects of parenting, but
it fosters the development of empathy in the students– a core component to successful parenting.
0
ROE teaches neuroscience to the youngest students
so that the next generation of parents will understandthat a baby’s brain is an experience-dependent organ
and that babies are affected by every experience, goodand bad. Early learning is dramatic and there is no
unimportant moment in a child’s life. The brain learns
seamlessly.
0
ROE has been identiﬁed as an anti-bullying programin many schools. Because children are taught to understand how others feel (empathy) and are encouraged to take responsibility for their actions andinactions, social responsibility rises and incidents ofbullying fall.
0
ROE teaches emotional literacy. Children learn thenames of the feelings as the baby’s cues are interpreted. The understanding of these feelings is anchored for students by the memory of the baby’s demonstration of feelings. Students are encouraged toreﬂect on their own experiences and feelings by usingmusic, art, group discussion and writing as vehicles for
self-exploration. The kindness of the students shines
through their work. This learning is the connection ofhand, heart and mind and is far more likely to be deepand long lasting than is the typical instruction where ateacher speaks about feelings. All students have their
feelings validated and the classroom becomes a safer
place to say what they feel.
0
ROE uses children’s literature extensively as it opens
the door to feelings and perspective-taking – both theaffective and cognitive sides of empathy.
0Students in ROE have opportunities to give genuine
gifts of their thoughts to the ROE baby and parent.
With their artwork and writing they make class books
as presents for the baby, and give the baby songs andpoems that they have written and recorded.

Keio J Med 2003; 52 (4): 236–243

Fig. 1 Jason’s picture deals with the rationale for a baby’s crying. He
is taking the perspective of the baby and expressing the fear andloneliness that grip this baby when he sees his mother disappearing
through the door. This seven-year old boy has developed insights into
the behaviour of others; he knows that a crying baby is not a ‘‘bad’’
baby (the thinking behind so much child abuse). He has acquired aperspective that will make him more understanding of his peers andlays the groundwork for his growing into a compassionate adult.

0Perhaps the most dramatic illustration of the emotional learning experienced by children in Roots of
Empathy programs lies in the artwork they produce.
Children’s artwork represents their feelings, perceptions and experiences; ROE instructors have theprivilege of seeing the ﬂowering of social compassionin children through the way they draw what is in theirhearts:In Jason’s picture (Fig. 1) which deals with therationale for a baby’s crying, Jason is taking the perspective of the baby and expressing the fear andloneliness that grip this baby when he sees his motherdisappearing through the door. This seven-year old
boy has developed insights into the behaviour ofothers; he knows that a crying baby is not a ‘‘bad’’
baby (the thinking behind so much child abuse). He
has acquired a perspective that will make him more
understanding of his peers and lays the groundworkfor his growing into a compassionate adult.

In the Roots of Empathy class where the second
drawing (Fig. 2) was created, the children were asked to
draw a picture of a time when they were able to help asad person. This seven-year old child has divided his
page so that one third represents the school playgroundand two-thirds represents his home – an accurate reﬂection of the realms of importance in the life of a childof this age. The schoolyard bullying scene where one
child spits at another child is played out daily in playgrounds around the world. What usually does not happen is that a child of seven comes to the aid of thevictim and not only does he support the victim, wiping

241

Fig. 2 This seven-year old child has divided his page so that one
third represents the school playground and two-thirds represents hishome – an accurate reﬂection of the realms of importance in the lifeof a child of this age. The little boy who drew this picture has taken
the perspective of victim and has taken action to repair the situation.
The second part of this picture reveals that at home he is clearly
dealing with care and stress beyond the capacity of a seven-year-old.
He had every colour of crayon to choose from but he chose black to
represent his mother’s sadness.

the spit off his face, but he teaches the perpetrator that
it is not okay to spit at others. He has taken on therole of peacemaker and has raised the bar of civility
in the playground, translating empathy into action, an
approach we could wish for from world governments.
In the previous Roots of Empathy class, the children
had witnessed a crying baby and learned from the baby
the physical, experiential concept of what ‘sad’ means.
They then anchored what that feeling of sadness was
through drawing and talking about an experience they
had of feeling sad. The next step is perspective-taking,the cognitive aspect of empathy. The little boy whodrew this picture has taken the perspective of victim
and has taken action to repair the situation. Whatis truly remarkable about this situation is that the childin question had demonstrated signiﬁcant behaviouralproblems in school. The second part of this picture
helps explain. At home he is clearly dealing with careand stress beyond the capacity of a seven-year-old. He
had every colour of crayon to choose from but he chose
black to represent his mother’s sadness. In discussion
with the instructor he talks about how his mother is sadbut he doesn’t know why she is sad. He makes her a cupof tea to try to make her happy. This child is wearing
the burden of care in his misbehaviour at school. Children will demonstrate aggressive, disruptive or uncooperative behaviour as a consequence of the upset they
feel inside. In the Roots of Empathy class, children
demonstrate more cooperative behaviour – there is242

scope to unpackage locked up feelings and discuss
them. The incidence of bullying decreases and children
learn that when something unfair is happening you do
not condone it and you actively do something to stop it.
ROE has a well-developed Curriculum Manual ofover 600 pages that includes lesson plans for eachclass visit and a Training Manual that provides theknowledge base and philosophy of the program. Both
Manuals have been assessed and recommended by
Canadian Curriculum Services. ROE is endorsed andsupported by Ministries of Education, University Faculties of Education, School Boards and Teachers’
Unions.
0
We have been successful in creating awareness of risk
factors to babies. Children are sensitized to Sudden
Infant Death Syndrome, Shaken Baby Syndrome, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, the perils of secondhand smoke, as well as cause and effect thinking as it
relates to accidents in their own lives.
0Students in ROE have opportunities to give genuine
gifts of their thoughts to the ROE baby and parent.
With their artwork and writing they make class books
as presents for the baby, and give the baby songs andpoems that they have written and recorded.
0
ROE has drawn interest from many disciplines beyond education:
0
Medical Ofﬁcers of Health in the province of Ontario are supporting ROE in its ability to meet theirgoals in addressing infant injury and abuse prevention and healthy early childhood development.
0
The Criminal Justice System has been interested andsupportive. Ontario Criminal Court Judge, Justice
Edward Ormston said, ‘‘Roots of Empathy is an excellent program. This is exactly the type of thing weshould be doing. If the lessons that children learnedin Roots of Empathy could have been taught to thepeople I deal with every day, we’d have less need for
prisons.’’

Gordon M: Roots of Empathy

Peer Behavioral Assessments
0,08

0,06

0,04

0

Roots of Empathy Research
Research projects to evaluate the effectiveness of the
Roots of Empathy program are underway and others
are planned. Two years ago a study of ROE with 6 to 8
year olds found a decrease of aggression in the ROE
group and a predictable rise in aggression in the comparison group. The results of last year’s study of 9 to 11
year olds in three Canadian provinces, conducted by
Dr. Kimberly Schonert-Reichl, under the leadershipof Dr. Clyde Hertzman, Faculty of Medicine, Universityof British Columbia, conﬁrm the earlier ﬁndings. Dr.
Schonert-Reichl’s ﬁndings as shown in the charts below
show how the behaviour of children in Roots of Empathy classes differs from the behaviour of children in

0,02
ROE Program
Comparison
0

Prosocial

Kind

Fair

Others' points of
view

-0,02

-0,04

-0,06

Fig. 3 Developmental changes in children’s socio-emotional knowledge were associated with concomitant reductions in aggressive
behaviors and increases in prosocial behaviors. Relative to comparison children, ROE children experienced signiﬁcant increases in peer
nominations for a range of prosocial behaviors, including perspectivetaking, kindness, and being seen as fair.
Peer Behavioral Assessments
0,14

0,12

0,1

0,08
ROE Program
Comparison
0,06

0,04

0,02

0

Antisocial

Talk behind backBulliesFig. 4 As a result of sensitization to empathy and emotional literacy
through the Roots of Empathy classes, children experienced signiﬁcant increases in peer nominations for bullying and relational aggression.

comparison classes, as viewed by peers (Fig. 3, Fig. 4)
and by teachers (Fig. 5). The researchers’ Summary of
Findings follows:
Researchers’ summary of ﬁndings
1. Results revealed that children who had the ROE
program, compared to children who did not experience it:0
Increased in the number of causal explanations foremotions that they could spontaneously generate
2. Developmental changes in children’s socio-emotional
knowledge were associated with concomitant reductions in aggressive behaviors and increases inprosocial behaviors. Relative to comparison children,
ROE children:

Keio J Med 2003; 52 (4): 236–243

243

Teacher Reports of Child Behavior
0,06

0,04

0,02

0

Proactive-0,02

Relational

Asocial

ROE Program
Comparison

-0,04

-0,06

-0,08

-0,1

Fig. 5 In relation to children in Roots of Empathy classes, comparison children signiﬁcantly increased in teacher-rated proactive andrelational aggression across the school year.

Experienced signiﬁcant increases in peer nominations for a range of prosocial behaviors, including perspective-taking, kindness, and being seen as
fair.
0
Experienced signiﬁcant increases in peer nominations for bullying and relational aggression
3. Results revealed that children who had the ROE
program, compared to children who did not experience it,0
Signiﬁcantly decreased in teacher-reported proactive aggression0
Signiﬁcantly decreased in teacher-reported relational aggression
4. Comparison children signiﬁcantly increased inteacher-rated proactive and relational aggression
across the school year.

changes and that children become more kind. Many
countries share our concern for the absence of caring
within their borders. We need to look to the future, toensure that populations can innovate and adapt in timesof rapid change. The economic growth and social prosperity of a nation is rooted in how it provides for its
children now. The most critical period in human development is early childhood. For success in this knowledge economy, we have to provide both opportunityand hope to the children in our hands, as well as information and support for the children who will be theparents of the next generation. Roots of Empathy does
not target difﬁcult children or aggressive children. It
raises the ﬂoor of empathy and kindness for all of thechildren. It offers extraordinary hope and light for thekind of future we can have, and the quality of life thatcan be built through the people we educate today.
Great ideas come from both the heart and the mind.
If we want great ideas for the future we must nourish
both the hearts and minds of our children.

0

Empathy Education: A Practical Strategy
Global transnational interdependence is a growing
phenomenon of life on the planet today. We are in thevortex of signiﬁcant social change. Learning to understand and care beyond our borders will build peace inthe world. The radar screen is now full with the concerns of the human condition – we are at a tipping pointin our understanding of the relationship between earlychildhood development and human development.
Empathy is a key ingredient in every relationship inlife. After participating in the Roots of Empathy program, teachers tell us that the tone of their classrooms

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