Why are Danish children so polite and happy? They don't have tantrums, are they happy and their academic results are excellent? Because from an early age they are directed towards empathy and so far from bullying and anxiety. And hugging becomes a school subject.
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Why are Danish children so polite and happy? They don't have tantrums, are they happy and their academic results are excellent? Because from an early age they are directed towards empathy and so far from bullying and anxiety. And hugging becomes a school subject.
Without mythologizing the model of Denmark, considered the happiest country in the world, Jessica Joelle Alexander, journalist and psychologist in her book The new Danish method to educate children to happiness at school and in the family (10 euros, Newton Campotn editori) invites us, with examples, comparisons and suggestions, to take a new path to accompany our children and to grow up, and happy, together.
Starting from the school. According to Alexander, the educational model of some countries seems to have stopped for decades and is unable to cope with current problems such as excessive competitiveness or bullying. In Danish schools, hugging is a school subject that serves to increase empathy and happiness without the need to protect our children from everything or to employ them in a thousand activities.
According to the journalist, labels, prohibitions and nicknames can negatively affect childhood, while self-esteem, awareness and happiness do not depend on votes, applause or encouragement but on feeling good about yourself.
For example, to have more attentive and serene adults, one hour a week, we teach the "Klassens tid", or empathy, the ability to fully understand what other children feel, be it a feeling of joy or of pain.
During those sixty minutes, cut between an hour of mathematics and one of history, the children talk about their personal problems or those they encounter in dealing with classmates or with the group of friends.
Without forgetting that here there is no competition for votes, but rather moments dedicated to hugs and even massages.
And in the end the pupils face the happiness test, because their well-being comes before any high grade.
Read also:
- The Danish school where empathy is taught to grow up happy
- Hygge, the Danish secret to living happily
- The Kindergarten in the Woods: the nursery that educates children in the open air
Dominella Trunfio
