It's cool to be kind
Published
The Oxford Children’s Word of the Year for 2024 is Kindness, with 61 per cent of children surveyed by publisher Oxford University Press choosing the word. Several children mentioned learning about kindness at school or at home.
OUP are putting together a kindness toolkit for parents, including recommended reads to develop empathy and kindness, and tips for parents on how to foster kindness at home. For more than a decade, experts at OUP have been tracking Children’s Word of the Year, analysing the evolution of children’s language and how it is used to reflect their emotions and experiences.
The research revealed mental health to be a reason for some children selecting kindness. Numerous references to global violence and current conflicts further emphasised how attuned children are to what is happening on the news, with words such as ‘need’ and ‘should’ frequently used in their responses.
Andrea Quincey, director of Early Years and Primary Publishing, Oxford University Press, says: ‘It is so encouraging that kindness has been voted—by a considerable majority as the Oxford Children’s Word of the Year for 2024. It tells us that empathy, and tolerance and the language we use matter, and that kindness is not only a solution to so many problems but is something everyone and anyone can do to make a difference.’
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