Children, especially girls, who are still in kindergarten or even younger form cliques and withhold friendship as a weapon. New programs aim to teach empathy.
Special programs are popping up in elementary schools to teach empathy as a means of stemming relational aggression, a psychological term to describe using the threat of removing friendship as a tactical weapon.
Children also are being guided in ways to stand up for themselves, and to help others, in instances of social exclusion. Though both boys and girls exhibit relational aggression, it is thought to be more common among girls because they are generally more socially developed and verbal than boys.
by Sumathi Reddy
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she engages in role playing with the children
to teach them both empathy and how
to stand up for themselves.
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