teaching kindness

As a way of continuing this week’s bulletin board assignment about book reviews, I decided to check out the latest offerings from the New York Times. Conveniently, there was a recent review (linked here) to coincide with October being known as National Anti-Bullying Awareness Month (admittedly, this was news to me). I decided to do a bit more research and came across the website for Stomp Out Bullying, whose focus is on “reducing and preventing bullying, cyberbullying, sexting and other digital abuse, educating against homophobia, racism and hatred, decreasing school absenteeism, and deterring violence in schools, online and in communities across the country.” I feel this is both a noble and necessary cause that deserves national attention. While I don’t have kids of my own, and don’t really spend a ton of time around young children, I know how hurtful they can be towards one another. And raising awareness of the issue is one of the first steps towards positive change.

The three books mentioned in the review focus on accepting and appreciating people for who they are. Of the three, I took a particular interest in the message presented in Lauren Thompson’s The Forgiveness Garden. The book tells of a long-standing feud between two villages and how two children worked together to dismantle the hatred. The book ends with an open-ended question that allows the reader to imagine what was said when these two former enemies speak to each other for the first time. This is a powerful message to send to young children, and I hope to check out the book myself to see if it does the same for adults.