Kindness

Golden Rule Challenge

October is National Bullying Prevention Month, which means we will be bringing back our Golden Rule Challenge at MPAMA! Each week of October, we will be sending out a challenge sheet that includes the instructions that tell you how to complete that week’s task. All the challenges revolve around having our students perform “random” acts of kindness for others, but each week focuses on a different setting to complete the kind acts in. Make sure to fill out all four weeks’ challenge sheets to earn a special prize!

To kick off our Golden Rule Challenge, the first week of October will have students focus on completing random acts of kindness around the house to help out their parents. To finish this week’s challenge, our students must perform one kind act at home each day this week! This can include anything from helping set up and clear the table before and after meals, to helping mom and dad bring in and put away the groceries. By helping out their parents, our goal is to have our students give thanks and gratitude back to their wonderful Moms and Dads, who spend countless hours caring for them. Next week’s challenge will be all about performing kind acts for classmates and teachers in school!

For the Right Reasons

Throughout this week’s challenge – and all of the other weeks as well – it’s important to remember that a random act of kindness can only be performed out of the desire to help others, not to earn a prize or check a box off for the challenge! If your child is only helping out at home just to be able to mark down one of the days on the challenge sheet, remind them that they should be helping others just to be a good person, not for any reward. Make sure to mark down a kind act when you notice that they are only doing it because it’s the right thing to do.

In Our Classes…

In classes throughout this week (and month), we will be teaching our students what a random act of kindness is, and ways you can perform one for other people. Though the focus for this week is kindness at home, we will emphasize that random acts of kindness can be done for anyone, anywhere. We want our children to be able to recognize when someone may be in need of help, and how they can go about providing assistance. If a classmate at school drops their pencil on the ground, we teach our students to be the one to pick it up for them. We teach them to voluntarily clean up after themselves and others after an activity ends. We teach them these things to make sure that they are always prepared to help someone who is in need.

Why Kindness?

Why do we want our students to perform acts of kindness? Great question, and the answer is in the name of the challenge itself: the Golden Rule. As a refresher, the Golden Rule states, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Or, simply put, “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” The Golden Rule is the center pillar around which our month-long challenge is based around.

We want to spread kindness throughout the world, which means we have to be kind ourselves first. By being nice and helping others out, we can ensure that others will help us out and return the favor. The Golden Rule is why it is important to be nice to others unconditionally, so that they will be inclined to show the same kindness back.

Bully Prevention

The final reason why acts of kindness are important, is because they are a huge factor in stopping and preventing bullying. If we treat others nicely, they are more likely to return the niceness, which means people will be less likely to be mean. Being nice to people is a great way to combat bullying, as it will force others to realize that being nice to others and having others be nice to you both feel equally as good. Most likely, the bully is someone who has not received enough kindness, so showing them how to be nice can counteract that. That’s why it is so important to be nice to others no matter what.

Spreading kindness is one of the keys to stopping bullying, but there are many other effective strategies to use as well. That is why we will be hosting an Anti-Bullying Seminar on October 22nd. We will be having local police officers come in to help us teach our students ways to stop bullies from harming them and others. Be sure to check your email for more details and pricing information.

In Conclusion…

To recap, it is important to always be nice to others, because that kindness will not only be reciprocated, but will be spread across our community. Furthermore, helping others is a great way to stand up against bullies and stop them from hurting others. Be sure to participate in our month-long Golden Rule Challenge by performing random acts of kindness for others in different settings each week!

How do you show kindness for others in your daily life?

How do you see kindness impacting your own life?