TORONTO — A wave of acts of kindness is sweeping across the GTA.
Some 7,000 students, including kids from six local Jewish day schools, will be participating in the second annual Human Kindness Project event, Kindness Week, to be held March 1 to 6.
The Human Kindness Project is a non-profit organization that provides educational programs to develop positive social skills, compassion, resiliency and leadership in children and young people to affect change through acts of deliberate kindness.
“Kindness Week gives teachers the resources to teach kindness, and students the opportunity to demonstrate kindness. Programs are aimed at students from kindergarten to Grade 12,” said Modya Silver, founder of Kindness Week.
By participating, students will increase their knowledge of the positive impacts of kindness on themselves and those around them, and experience how giving leads to improved self-esteem and empathy.
There is no religious or political component to Kindness Week. Any school, youth group or camp can participate.
“Last year there were 31 participating schools. We’re expecting to double that this year,” Silver said. “So far, we have six Jewish day schools participating: Leo Baeck, Eitz Chaim, Netivot, CHAT, Tiferes Beis Yaakov and Robbins Hebrew Academy. In addition, the Beth Sholom Hebrew School and Jewish camps Shalom, Solelim and Moshava Ba’ir are also taking part.”
Silver, a 53-year-old father of five who works in high-tech marketing, said the Human Kindness Project evolved from his own personal growth.
“I study at the school of Mussar, a Jewish movement that focuses on character strength development. For a year and a half, I worked on the trait of kindness, of chesed. I wanted to turn that into something bigger that could potentially make a difference in Toronto and across Canada by focusing on children and youth, giving them a platform to demonstrate what I believe is their innate kindness,” Silver explained.
According to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, one in three adolescents in Canada has been bullied, and one in two parents reports having a child who is a victim of bullying. As well, levels of stress, anxiety, and depression in children and youth are reaching epidemic proportions.
“Science shows that kindness can serve as a preventative measure… by giving students the tools to develop stronger social connections and a greater ability to deal with adversity,” Silver said.
In exercising their “kindness muscle,” students can go to a grocery store and help people carry bags out to the parking lot, write inspirational cards, or create a food drive, he added.
“A lot at the elementary level happens inside the school. The class will create their own homemade gratitude card and either give it to someone inside the school – a teacher or a principal – or in some classes they might walk to their nearest fire hall or ambulance station and give it to the emergency first respondents.”
Silver, along with business partner Jessica Fowler and a volunteer team of 10, will be building awareness across the city during Kindness Week.
“While the thousands of students across the city are doing projects either in their schools or in the local neighbourhood, we are doing one awareness-building activity each day during Kindness Week,” Silver said.
“We will take a bus load of kids to the airport and greet all the foreigners coming into the city, wish them well, let them know it’s Kindness Week, and give them a treat. We will also give them a Kindness Week challenge card where they will have 24 hours to do an act of kindness and blog or post it with the hashtags #bkind and #kindnessweek,” he added.
Partnering with the TTC, another activity will involve greeting commuters at three subway stations. “There will be a group of us chanting kindness slogans, while others are handing out goodies, all the while spreading awareness and kindness,” Silver said.
So how can the kids keep kindness alive during the rest of the year?
“We have hired someone to design a kindness curriculum with lessons planned for grades 1 through 8 available to any of the schools that signed up for Kindness Week, who will get this material for free,” he said.
“Ultimately, students who perform acts of kindness inspire greater kindness among their peers.”
For more, visit www.kindnessweek.ca
