Kayla asks, “How do you be kind?”
Kayla asks, “How do you be kind?”
You can find out more about Nina Purewal and her work at NinaPurewal.com.
If there’s a question you’d like to ask, or if you have advice to share, you can reach us at listen@akidspodcastabout.com.
Check out other podcasts made for kids just like you by visiting akidsco.com.
It’s OK To Ask: A Kids Advice Podcast
S1 EP06, Choose Kind
[INTRODUCTION]
Nina: This is It’s Okay To Ask: A Kids Advice Podcast.
I’m your host, Nina Purewal.
You know, in life, we often get confronted with some really big questions about what to do in certain situations, how to act, how to even feel and what maybe even feels right or wrong.
Asking for advice from people in your class, from those that you do activities with, or even some great friends is a wonderful way to help inform your own decision-making choices.
And it's okay to ask. That's why we're making this show.
We feel that it's so important to provide a safe space for you to ask questions and also get some advice because no question is too big or small. But sometimes asking just one person for advice isn't enough. We might have to ask a few people before we know what feels right to do next.
Today's question comes from Kayla.
Kayla asks, “How do you be kind?”
Wow. Kayla, that is truly such a beautiful question. How do you be kind? What are the things that you do that come from a kind and loving heart? And did you know that research suggests that kindness is linked to feeling calm, feeling less lonely, even feeling happier?
And kindness also fosters a connection to others. So I think this question from Kayla is a wonderful one on tips on how to be kind
[ADVICE FROM KIDS]
Choice 1
Aria: Hi, my name is Aria. I'm eight years old and I'm from Ontario, Canada.
The way I be kind is I say kind words. I listen to people with respect and I treat others the way I want to be treated.
Choice 2
Bianca: My name is Bianca I'm seven years old. I live in Ontario, Canada.
You can be kind by having good attitudes, saying your pleases and thank yous and being loving with someone. And you could help others and be happy with them.
Choice 3
Cyla: Hi, my name is Cya and I'm nine years old and I live in Atlanta, Georgia.
My advice on how to be kind is giving a smile or helping someone more than they're down. Playing with a friend that maybe is lonely.
Even if there are some people in your life that you don't like at all, like you want to stay as far away from them, because they're mean to you, you always have to be kind to people.
And to be kind there, you can do the simplest thing. Like smile, play with someone, help someone when they're down. Say like, if someone's really bullying you and you, you want to yell at them because you're really mad, maybe just say something that is not screaming. Don't use your fists. Don't use your feet.
Use kind words like “please” and ”thank you” and “would you mind”. Things like that.
So where you can help out without someone asking for you to help, like if you have to pack your bag in the morning and your parents always have to remind you to pack your bag, you could pack your bag without them having to remind you and just be thoughtful.
And if someone's not feeling well, you help them feel better. Those are some ways that I am kind.
Choice 4
Jonah: Hi, my name is Jonah. I am 11 years old and I live in Maryland.
You can be kind by treating people how you want to be treated. If you want to be treated, like, nicely and people didn't say mean words to you, then treat people that way and you that'll be kind and then maybe you'll go through things faster and get new friends and, yeah…
Choice 5
Leo: Hi. My name is Leo. I am nine years old and I live in California.
How do you be kind?
How I would think of you or me being kind is say, someone's bullying you, and then you see them bullying this person. And this other person comes out of nowhere and they're like, “I'm going to stand up for you because it's the right thing to do.”
And at my school, we have these four things where we, um, if you're one of those four things, you got a golden ticket, which is like a sign of being a good, good person.
And what I would say, how to be kind is just do that. Like stand up for someone. Clean something. Help someone with their lunchbox.
The four things are respectful, responsible, mindful, and compassionate. And I think that, um, compassionate is the hardest one to get, because compassionate, what it means to me is that you want to do something when no one’s looking.
And that's actually pretty hard because you want people to notice you doing that thing to get a golden ticket. But also every time that I've tried to do that, I usually get not compassionate, but sometimes I get compassionate, which I'm really proud of. So that is how you could be kind.
[SIMILAR EXPERIENCES]
Nina: Welcome back.
The advice we give often comes from a place of experience.
We want to hear what other kids have done to be kind.
Let's listen to a similar experience from one of our peers. A peer is someone who was close in age to you or who has similar experiences.
Here we go.
Let's hear what others have done to be a kind person.
Choice 1
Aria: Hi, my name is Aria and one day at recess, my two best friends got into an argument and one of them said to the other friend, you can't play. So I left the people who I was playing with and him played the one, played with the one who didn't have anyone to play with.
Choice 2
Bianca: My name's Bianca and I share my screen sometimes in online school and I help other kids if they can't find something and it helps them a lot. And I like helping people because I just like helping people.
Choice 3
Cyla: Hi, my name is Cyla. And one way I was kind was when there was a bully on the school playground and everybody was scared of her and everybody was trying to be mean back and, like trying to, like, run and tell and be mean to her because she was being mean to the people on the playground.
And I was always like, “could you please stop? I don't really care for it. And just because you're being mean, I'm not going to be mean to you. You're just like us.”
So eventually she became my friend and now she's not mean anymore because of those few kind of things that people have done for her, even when she was being mean to us. That was one way I was kind of.
Choice 4
Jonah: Hi. My name is Jonah and an experience I've had with me being kind to another person and they were kind back to me was when I was outside at recess and a soccer ball flew to me. I kicked it back and I was nice about it.
And the person said, “thank you”. And it, the person seemed to really kind, and I think that's showing to be kind.
Choice 5
Leo: There actually was times where I was kind to other people and the other times, and the times that I was kind to people was sometimes, like I explained, I stand up for someone when they're getting bullied or I'm like, I report to a teacher and I'm like, “his person got hurt”.
But I don't say who got hurt. Like I say, who got hurt, but I don't say who hurt them or how it happened, but, so I leave that part to them because the teacher's always going to ask the kid to come over and tell them what happened. So what I do is I go to a teacher.
Nina: I am sure we have all been kind at some point.
If you have a grownup sitting next to you, maybe ask them, how do they be kind at work or at home, or with their friends.
Kindness is such a wonderful act of love. And as I said earlier, it creates a really strong connection with people and even helps you with your own happiness.
We're going to take a quick break. And when we return, we're looking for your advice on how to be kind.
Seriously. Stick around.
[ASKING FOR YOUR ADVICE]
Nina: Welcome back to It’s Okay to Ask: A Kids Advice Podcast.
Before the break, we heard advice based on the beautiful question sent in by Kayla on how do you be kind.
Now, it's our turn to come to you. Each of your peers brought a question and you'll hear from one of them in just a moment.
And after you do, it's your opportunity to share some advice.
Here we go.
Choice 1
Aria: Hi, my name is aria, and my question is what happens if you move to a new town and you leave your friends behind, and then you cannot, like, you don't know how to make new friends and you're shy going to your new school?
Choice 2
Bianca: Hi, my name's Bianca. What tools do we use to make you feel calm?
Choice 3
Cyla: Hi, my name is Cyla and I have a question. Have you ever experienced something scary, but you had to do it any way and you powered through it. What did you do?
Choice 4
Jonah: Hi, my name is Jonah. And what do you do if you received a gift from someone and you don't like that gift?
Choice 5
Leo: Do you have any advice on how to be kind? Like, if you're like just having a bad day and you don't want to be kind to people?
[WRAP-UP]
Nina: Remember, it's okay to ask for advice on whatever is going on in your world. You are not doing this alone, my friends.
Until next time, I'm Nina. Thanks for listening.
[CLOSING]
Nina: Thank you, Kayla for your fantastic question around how to be kind and to all of our peers for your wonderful advice.
If there’s a question you’d like to ask, or if you have advice to share, you can reach us at listen@akidspodcastabout.com.
It’s Okay To Ask is written by me, Nina Purewal. You can learn more about me and my work at NinaPurewal.com.
Our show is edited and produced by Matthew Winner with help from Chad Michael Snavely and the team at Sound On Studios. Our executive producer is Jelani Memory. And this show was brought to you by A Kids Podcast About.
Follow the show on Apple Podcasts or wherever podcasts are found and check out other podcasts made for kids just like you by visiting akidsco.com.