We've all felt it at one time or another - how kindness can make us feel good, bring out the best in people, lift spirits and help us connect with others.
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Increasingly, research is documenting just how powerful an impact kindness can have on our mental and physical wellbeing, whether you're the giver, receiver, or even just a witness of kind acts.
And with the world feeling increasingly chaotic, and levels of poor mental health continuing to rise, kindness is being seen as a potential antidote to many of the challenges facing people today, in particular kids.
Now more than 3500 schools in Australia the US and the UK have joined in a mission to harness this power starting with our children, with a locally-developed program that provides students with the tools to live a kinder life, better equipped to cope with those challenges.
Launched by Australian not-for-profit Kindness Factory in 2020, the Kindness Factory Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) program, is already having an impact on the culture of participating schools, says Juliette Tobias-Webb, a world-renowned behavioural scientist who sits on the Kindness Factory board.
"There are lots of positive indicators from the schools," said Dr Tobias-Webb, Professor of Practice in Behavioural Science at Charles Sturt University and also part of the team at CSU's research body, the AI and Cyber Futures Institute.
"Schools are coming back saying the program is fantastic and reporting positive changes in behaviour and outcomes for teachers and students."
ACM, the publisher of this website and a supporter of Kindness Factory, is hosting a free webinar on June 19 about Kindness Factory and its Social and Emotional Learning program for schools. ACM is also funding one SEL program valued at $3000 per state to be given away after the webinar. Register for the webinar and go into the draw to win here.
Kindness and the benefits it delivers have been a particular area of interest and research for Dr Tobias-Webb.
"For me, kindness is a core value, I'm deeply committed to alleviating unnecessary suffering and passionate about people connecting," she said.
"You can see through the research that's been done that there are incredible mental and physical health benefits of kindness and its ability to connect people.
"It's like a superdrug in some ways. Being kind lowers people's response to stress and anxiety, it's related to lower blood pressure, it reduces depression, and it can even reduce common cold symptoms. It helps people feel more worthy, less lonely, more energised, and happier."
Incredibly, research shows you don't have to be directly giving or on the receiving end of kindness to reap the benefits - just seeing kind behaviour around you is enough.
"It's called the ripple effect," said Dr Tobias-Webb.
"If you witness kindness it makes people feel better, and it also enhances their likelihood of spreading kindness."
The Kindness Factory SEL program focuses on the development of 12 core attributes that underpin kindness, both to other people and yourself, including honesty, perspective, collaboration, positivity, mindfulness, self-acceptance, empathy, compassion, trust, humour, humility, and gratitude.
The program addresses and teaches these attributes needed to be kind and connect with others, along with the internal skills needed to be kind to ourselves.
Having teachers delivering the program in schools is a key opportunity to equip students with tools to create a kinder world, to be more resilient and better able to face life's challenges.
"Children spend more of their time in school than any other setting - except maybe bed - so if you are bringing the curriculum into schools it can serve as a protective factor against any adversity and suffering," Dr Tobias-Webb said.
"But also children are like sponges, they absorb behaviours they see modelled around them. By instilling kindness at a young age we lay the foundations for a future generation that values empathy, understands inclusivity and has the skills that foster positive culture.
"At the moment we've got a world of bullying and conflict, polarisation with social media, and mental health issues on the rise so it seems more important than ever to teach kindness because there is so much chaos."
You can read more about Kindness Factory and the amazing story behind its kindness movement here.
Register for the webinar and go into the draw to win here.
