Forgiveness: Nuance, Power & Benefits #078

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This Week's Episode:
"Forgiveness is not being weak—it takes strength and courage to forgive." - How To Teach  Kids Forgiveness Skills

The benefits of practicing and giving forgiveness:

• "The forgiveness group showed improved psychological and behavioral adjustment. The forgiveness group showed improved academic performance. Participants in the forgiveness group reported significant decreases in anger, hostile attribution, aggression, and delinquency at post-test and follow-up; they also reported significant increases in empathy at post-test and follow-up and grades at post-test." - Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology
• Forgiveness As an Educational Goal With At-Risk Adolescents
• Forgiveness Education for Fourth Grade Students in Turkey

How do we teach forgiveness skills to our kids?

• Model it: We practice forgiving our spouses, our friends, and them.
• Ask for it: Teach how to ask for forgiveness.
• Have patience: Don’t rush your child to forgive.
• Seek justice: Forgiving someone is not the same as saying what happened was ok or didn’t matter or just forgetting abou it.
• Teach empathy: Seeing the other side and understanding another person. Recognizing everyone’s sense of worth and inherent value.
• Give freedom: Forgiveness is not the same as reconciliation. You can forgive, but also not want to be friends. There are natural consequences to hurting someone.
• Share examples: Call out examples of forgiveness in books and movies.
• Teach self-forgiveness: We need to help them avoid shame and blame and guilt.

The Stat of the Week covers the negative impact of the pandemic on people's sleep.