Model forgiveness within the family. Parents can teach their children about the value of forgiveness by regularly practicing it in their own lives. A recent study found that parents who were more forgiving toward their children at the start of the year tended to receive greater forgiveness from their children at the end of the year.
Support children’s capacity to respond to their strong emotions. Being able to control impulses may help children consider forgiveness as an alternative when they’ve been wronged by someone, rather than act on an impulsive urge to retaliate. Help your child become aware of, embody, and respond to various emotions through role-playing and other activities.
Discuss how people sometimes do hurtful things by accident. Whether children forgive may also depend on their interpretations of others’ intentions. Young children may turn to their parents when they are not sure whether a peer harmed them on purpose, and that moment could be an opportunity to help children consider forgiveness.