Back to School: Teaching children about being nice to others

ROANOKE (WSLS 10) - Thousands of children are back in school already and thousands more return in the next couple of weeks. WSLS 10 Back to School expert Jamie Clark from Macaroni Kid Roanoke who is also a mother of two has some good advice for making sure her children are kind to others.

"My kids know what it's like to be the new kid in school and I remind them of that all the time. 'Remember that first day for you when you didn't know anybody and how you felt and how one friendly smile or someone saying hello to you makes all the difference'. Do that to the new kids. You don't have to become best friends with them but just being friendly to those new kids goes along way," said Clark.

She's found as her children get older the best conversations happen in the car because they are sitting behind her and not face-to-face and for some reason that makes a big difference.  Clark talks about what's going on in class and asks questions like "are there kids being mean to each other?"

Most kids are open and will share information.

"I want to know what's going on because if there's something my kids are afraid to tell me about or something that needs a teacher's attention that they might not want to say, most kids are very open about those things and they'll say 'oh yeah so-and-so always gets in trouble' or 'so and so does this' but I like to know about that. Especially I want to know if anyone is upsetting my child whether it's on the bus or in school. The more as a parent you can just be open and talk to your kids the better," said Clark.


About the Author:

You can see Jenna weekday mornings at the anchor desk on WSLS 10 Today from 5-7 a.m. She also leads our monthly Solutionaries Series, where we highlight the creative thinkers and doers working to make the world a better place.