By Catto Healthy News reporters | When Mrs. Morris, school psychologist, talks to students about showing empathy, she speaks from experience.
There was a time in her life when someone provided her a safe place to stay, she told Healthy News reporters. Without that show of empathy, she said, she might not be where she is today.
“Empathy is the ability to feel and see how someone else feels,” said Mrs. Morris.
As a school psychologist, Mrs. Morris said a lot of what she does relates to empathy. “I provide counseling for students who come to me who are upset, sad, and sometimes depressed. Empathy plays an important part in offering strategies and addressing students’ needs.”
Students can benefit from showing empathy to someone else. “It’s good to show empathy because it allows you to reflect on yourself. You develop a deeper sense of gratitude and understanding when you show empathy,” said Mrs. Morris.
The Harvard University’s Making Caring Common Project says empathy is a key part of being a responsible and helpful community member at school and elsewhere. The project’s research has found that showing empathy can reduce bullying, increase academic success, build communication skills, and build more positive relationships with others.
“A strategy that I use with students in practicing empathy is role-playing. I give students different scenarios and examples and encourage them to use empathy in these situations,” said Mrs. Morris.
She explained there are many benefits to kids showing empathy. “It makes students more aware and caring,” she said. “Empathy can create a safer school environment and culture. You feel better about yourself when you show empathy.”
“The most important advice I would give to students in showing empathy is to listen without judgment. Sometimes you can offer advice, but sometimes it is just important to be there,” said Mrs. Morris.
Ms. Brown, the fourth-grade teacher who leads the Healthy News staff, was so moved by Mrs. Morris’ conversation with the reporters that she shared how empathy played a major part in her life growing up.
“I never knew that Mrs. Morris and I shared similar experiences. I too needed a safe place when I was young, and it was empathy and the kindness of others that provided me with that safe place,” she said.
Mrs. Morris urged the reporters “to keep doing the work that you are doing in encouraging your school to show empathy.
I hope that students will not just read about empathy, but they will also put what they learned into practice,” she said.
Illustration by Darrell, fifth grade, Yorkship Family School, 2025-26.
