May 22, 2013
Program Essential Tool in Reducing Violence, Bullying, Helping Children Reach Their Full Potential: Chief
The province is celebrating 10 years of offering the Roots of Empathy program to Manitoba children to help reduce bullying, aggression and improve social relationships, Children and Youth Opportunities Minister Kevin Chief said today.
“The Roots of Empathy program has been shown to reduce violence and increase positive behaviours in our children by helping them understand the perspective and feelings of others,” said Chief. “We are proud to have offered this program for over a decade in Manitoba and have seen how it helps children and youth reach their full potential by developing greater empathy.”
To celebrate the decade of Roots of Empathy in Manitoba, Chief is meeting with Mary Gordon, director and founder of Roots of Empathy, in the St. James-Assiniboia School Division, one of eight school divisions celebrating 10 years of offering the program.
“I want to congratulate the Province of Manitoba for offering Roots of Empathy to children and for their decade of work,” said Gordon. “They’ve recognized that this program helps children find humanity in others and apply that to themselves.”
During the 2012-13 school year, the program has been delivered to approximately 5,500 students across Manitoba including 26 school divisions and 15 First Nations communities. The province is investing $356,400 in Roots of Empathy programs during the 2013-14 school year, said Chief.
Certified instructors provide classroom training three times a month throughout the school year and each class receives a monthly visit from a neighbourhood parent and their baby. The parent and baby visits are a cornerstone of the program, enabling students to observe the parent/child bond and learn about our shared responsibility for vulnerable members of the community, the minister said.
“Over 35,000 Manitoba students have participated in Roots of Empathy since the program’s inception,” said Chief. “As a province, we are unique in North America in supporting the training of volunteer instructors from the community and this allows us to deliver programs across the province, from small, isolated rural schools to large urban classrooms.”
Gordon is recognized internationally as an award-winning social entrepreneur, educator, author, child advocate and parenting expert. In 2000, she established the national and international Roots of Empathy organization, which now offers programs in every Canadian province, as well as England, Germany, the Isle of Man, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, the United States and Wales.
PROVINCE CELEBRATES 10 YEARS OF OFFERING AWARD-WINNING ROOTS OF EMPATHY PROGRAM
– – –Program Essential Tool in Reducing Violence, Bullying, Helping Children Reach Their Full Potential: Chief
“The Roots of Empathy program has been shown to reduce violence and increase positive behaviours in our children by helping them understand the perspective and feelings of others,” said Chief. “We are proud to have offered this program for over a decade in Manitoba and have seen how it helps children and youth reach their full potential by developing greater empathy.”
To celebrate the decade of Roots of Empathy in Manitoba, Chief is meeting with Mary Gordon, director and founder of Roots of Empathy, in the St. James-Assiniboia School Division, one of eight school divisions celebrating 10 years of offering the program.
“I want to congratulate the Province of Manitoba for offering Roots of Empathy to children and for their decade of work,” said Gordon. “They’ve recognized that this program helps children find humanity in others and apply that to themselves.”
During the 2012-13 school year, the program has been delivered to approximately 5,500 students across Manitoba including 26 school divisions and 15 First Nations communities. The province is investing $356,400 in Roots of Empathy programs during the 2013-14 school year, said Chief.
Certified instructors provide classroom training three times a month throughout the school year and each class receives a monthly visit from a neighbourhood parent and their baby. The parent and baby visits are a cornerstone of the program, enabling students to observe the parent/child bond and learn about our shared responsibility for vulnerable members of the community, the minister said.
“Over 35,000 Manitoba students have participated in Roots of Empathy since the program’s inception,” said Chief. “As a province, we are unique in North America in supporting the training of volunteer instructors from the community and this allows us to deliver programs across the province, from small, isolated rural schools to large urban classrooms.”
Gordon is recognized internationally as an award-winning social entrepreneur, educator, author, child advocate and parenting expert. In 2000, she established the national and international Roots of Empathy organization, which now offers programs in every Canadian province, as well as England, Germany, the Isle of Man, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, the United States and Wales.
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