Kindness Pays

(photo credit: T1m0thy77 via photopin cc)

In the fraught world of playground politics, think nice guys finish last? Guess again. A 4-week study found kind kids are happier and better liked by peers. Working with 400 9- to 11-year-olds, the universities conducting the study assigned half the group three simple positive acts per week. At the end of the study period, not only did the kids who performed those acts score higher on happiness measures (which, researchers say, aligns with research on the effect of positive behavior on adult states-of-mind), but they were also chosen by more peers for collaborative classroom activities. Sounds like following the golden rule may be a golden ticket to happier school years.

Free the Children

As a 12-year-old in Canada, Craig Kielburger read about a child slave in Pakistan who escaped but was murdered after speaking out against child servitude. Moved to act, Kielburger rounded up 11 friends in his living room, with no money or well-heeled benefactors, to try and fight child labor.

Two decades later, Free the Children is the "world's largest network of kids helping kids," says Kielburger. Engaging 2 million volunteers a year -- almost all under 18 -- it's evolved into a diverse relief and development organization, as leaders have followed logical pathways of problem solving, Watch Kielburger's brother Marc, for instance, talk about why building schools isn't enough to get girls to school in Africa.

Kid volunteers are recruited through schools -- organizing bakes sales, car washes & other fundraisers -- and at celeb-studded "We Days" that gather stadiums full of young students. Some 2,400 a year end up getting so involved that they travel abroad on service projects.

But even something as simple as donating birthday money, a piggy bank's contents, or mere pocket change has an impact.  "That adds up to millions and millions of dollars ...for our projects," Kielburger told "60 Minutes" in November. It's a reminder that kids need not start a charity -- or even a fundraising project -- to help other kids.

"A penny is almost like a kid," he added. "People walk past pennies all the time and ignore them ... Can they really make a difference? But when you bring enough young people, enough kids together, then suddenly those kids can change the world."

Classy Gift

Stuck for end of year teacher gifts? Even when the spotlight's on teacher, kids can help other kids by putting all or part of their teacher-gift budget toward a donation to Donors Choose this spring. The way this works is really cool: Kids/families go online to select a project their teacher will love, choosing from a range of requests submitted by classrooms in need nationwide. They click the "in honor of" option when checking out and designate their teacher. Later, the teacher will hear back from the classroom that benefitted!

Want to go the extra mile? Use teacher thank you stationery to let him/her know about the donation, either in an individual note or a budget-friendly booklet made up of one sheet per student.

Labor of Love

June 12, 2010 is World Day Against Child Labour, organized by the International Labour Organization to fight "the use of children in slavery, forced labour, trafficking, debt bondage, serfdom, prostitution, pornography, forced or compulsory recruitment for armed conflict and all forms of work that are likely to harm the safety, health or morals of children." The ILO invites kids to get involved by organizing a book drive for children in another part of the world who are unable to go to school, writing letters to their local newspapers that explain World Day and the reasons for it (this definition & fact sheet can help), or making pinwheels -- World Day's symbol -- at school or through community organizations and signing petitions against child labor. Educators may want to use the event as a discussion starter, especially for older kids and teens, on the complexities of child labor, often bound tightly to dire poverty.