The Children's Charter for Compassion - Through the Eyes of a Child

The Children’s Charter for Compassion

Compassion means to feel what others are feeling – especially when they are feeling pain

or sadness. Compassion is inside of all of us. It doesn’t matter if you are a girl or a boy,

how old you are, what country you live in, where or if you worship, or the color of your

skin. We can all show compassion for others.

When we act with compassion, we treat others as we wish to be treated. We show

kindness. We show understanding. We try to make others feel better. We put others before

ourselves.

If we want the world to be a caring, respectful, and happy place to live, we must all

practice compassion. Who are those others? Family, friends, classmates, teachers,

neighbors, teammates, coaches, and even those we do not like or see as our enemies. We

must also treat ourselves with love, kindness, and respect. When we are happy, we can

make others feel happy.

When we act with compassion, we get a warm feeling in our hearts. That feeling guides

us to keep doing whatever we can to make sure all people are treated equally and fairly.

We must never hurt others with nasty words, unkind facial expressions, or physical force.

When we act with compassion, we let others be themselves. We welcome and embrace

the chance to learn from others and to respect and celebrate our differences.

From this moment on, we have a great responsibility:

• We must begin and end each day with compassion.

• We must always treat others as we would like to be treated.

• We must begin and end each day with a kind heart towards others and ourselves.

Kindness leads to kindness and others will follow.

• We must respect each other’s differences in behavior, intelligence, religion, and

tradition.

A compassionate, unselfish, and understanding world begins with you. Make this promise

to yourself. Promise to try to show compassion to everyone you see every day, and help

make the world peaceful and happy for us all.

Text Copyright © 2010 by Erin Henry, The Children’s Charter of Compassion. All rights reserved. No part of this Charter may be used, reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without prior written permission from Erin Henry, Executive Director, Children’s Charter of Compassion.