SMALL babies, some as young as two months old, are helping older children to deal with emotional and behavioural difficulties in Irish classrooms.
Barnardos’ Roots of Empathy programme sees volunteer mums bringing their tots into classrooms, allowing students to observe the child’s development and to label his or her feelings.
Research results from national and international evaluations of Roots of Empathy indicate significant reductions in aggression and increases in pro-social behaviours.
Schools are finding the programme has children seeing through the eyes of babies and their classmates leading to an understanding of how others feel.
This results in kids being less likely to bully others or to be unkind to one another.
Barnardos celebrated the 20th anniversary of their Cork South City Family Support project in Mahon, Co Cork this week.
The family-support project was set up in 1999 under the Springboard initiative in partnership with the Southern Health Board.
SEEING RESULTS
It has worked with 1,200 families and nearly 2,000 children in the Mahon community over the past 20 years, providing a range of services, which include individual work with children and families (home-based parenting programmes), family support including weekly food parcel deliveries, and group programmes.
In an example of the family support service, Barnardos helped mum ‘Mary’ and her eight-year-old daughter ‘Molly’, the latter coping with the separation of her parents, to deal with their various problems. (Names were changed to protect the identities of the clients.)
With this family, counsellors offered home based sessions and held individual meetings with ‘Mary’ and also the father of ‘Molly’ who’s in a new relationship.
The youngster’s needs were identified as requiring skills and knowledge to understand change and loss.
She needed her mum to give her positive attention through praise and play and to provide clear limits using alternatives to smacking.
‘Molly’ underwent the Season’s For Growth programme while ‘Mary’ availed of Barnardos Home Based Partnership with Parents Programme.
Today ‘Molly’ is more open and able to talk about her feelings and has also developed new coping skills.
MOST READ IN FABULOUS
Barnardos in Cork are looking for mums willing to volunteer to bring their babies aged between two and four months into classrooms to participate in the Empathy programme.
Roisin McDaid of Barnardos said: “Our Family Support Project has provided a safe, respectful and nonjudgmental space to work in partnership with 1,200 families and 2,000 children over the past 20 years.”
- To learn more visit barnardos.ie