The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor As the adorable infant crawls around on a soft, bright blanket, the circle of children encompassing him is captivated. Soon they are full of all kinds of questions. Can he walk yet? How much does he weigh? Is he shy around strangers? Though the tot only visits the classroom for 40 minutes at a time, the students have clearly fostered a strong bond with the child. And it's that bond that organizers of these visitations _ the basis of what's called the Roots of Empathy program _ say nurture the children's emotional literacy and compassion toward others. 'The overall goal is to just create a more peaceful and caring society, and to start at the ground and work our way up,' says Kathy Alves, an official with the program. See 'Cake...' on pg. 6 Continued from pg. 3 Based in Alberta, Alves recently visited the R.H. Channing Auditorium for a cake-filled celebration to mark 10 years of Roots of Empathy in Flin Flon. The event brought together some of the 45 infants and former infants who have been the 'stars' of the program, as well as officials, parents, instructors and students. In 2002, the Flin Flon School Division became one of the first school divisions in Manitoba to offer the program to students. Originally only Ecole McIsaac School participated, but trustees liked the program so much they expanded it into the Ruth Betts and now-defunct Parkdale schools. Throughout the school year, students from kindergarten to Grade 8 receive visits from an infant and his mother. The students will play with the tot, talk to him and even sing him songs. In this cozy atmosphere, the students quickly learn how to gauge the baby's feelings. In talking with the mother, the students gain a better appreciation of how babies _ and indeed they themselves _ gradually develop over time. 'Basically what we've found is that children who have taken the program are less aggressive,' says Colleen Weibel, the program's senior mentor / trainer for Manitoba. Weibel, who is based in Riverton, Man., says students who have taken part in Roots of Empathy have been tracked for up to three years. 'It stays with them, and we anticipate that it stays with them for the rest of their lives,' she says. The format of Roots of Empathy is responsible for its success, in Weibel's view. 'The baby comes in and is non-threatening. The baby is there as an individual,' she says. 'I think the other aspect of the program is the total equality, so that when the children sit around the blanket, everyone is equal and the baby soothes everyone as equal. And in our society, there's not a lot of opportunity for that, where you can feel that you're equal.' Alves calls the program 'preventative, not reactive.' '(It gives) children an emotional literacy _ a way to talk about their feelings and to understand the feelings that we all have and how we're all the same as well,' she says. Both Alves and Weibel believe Roots of Empathy benefits not only the students, but also the babies. And when it comes to babies, Carrie Alexander, who runs the Flin Flon program, has had no trouble finding volunteers. 'We jokingly say we stalk pregnant women,' she says. '(Actually) it's mostly through networking and communication. All of my moms now know women who are having babies around this time.' Today Roots of Empathy operates across Canada as well as in parts of the U.S. New Zealand and the Isle of Man. In Manitoba, it runs in three-quarters of school divisions. Flin Flon Superintendent of Schools Blaine Veitch is a big believer in the program. 'I think it's a great program,' he said in a previous interview. 'It's an opportunity for our students to experience a child and see them grow, and learn, through the child, their emotions and how to understand themselves and be more empathic to their classmates and society in general.'
