As World Kindness Day approaches on Thursday, Nov. 13, Sandra Bosacki is reminding people that being kind isn’t just a nice gesture; it’s a strategy for leading a happier, more fulfilled life.

The Brock University Professor of Educational Studies says kindness is a strength, not a weakness, and that it provides emotional benefits, particularly among youth.

Kindness can serve as an “antidote” to the increasingly disconnected, anxious and lonely state of youth today, especially in the digital age, says Bosacki, Director of Brock’s Theory of Mind in Education (ToME) Lab.

ToME researchers explore how having a kind-oriented mindset can help people to treat others with compassion, feel more in control of their emotions and feel happier.

Bosacki says there are many ways in which practicing voluntary behaviours that are considerate and mindful of others can help to benefit one’s mental health and can help people lead more satisfying lives.

“Kindness can take many forms and does not need to cost anything,” she says. “It can mean being considerate and mindful of others by making another person’s day brighter by smiling or asking them how they are doing today; without being asked, helping out around the home with chores, helping a peer in school with their class work or in social situations.”

Bosacki adds that adolescents who engage in acts of kindness and hold kind self-beliefs report high levels of emotional well-being, less anxiety, and feelings of loneliness and fear. They also report increased compassion for themselves and others as they mature.

This is due in part to the complex way adolescents’ minds develop awareness of the world while processing their own mindsets and those of others.

“Those who develop a kind mindset are more motivated to proactively help others and respect diversity in the future, demonstrating a deeper understanding of the shared human experience,” Bosacki says.

Kindness, she adds, breeds kindness. It begins with individuals and grows to see schools and communities promoting a culture of compassion.

“Kindness is contagious,” she says. “You can ‘catch’ it from your family and friends.”

While it is important to celebrate World Kindness Day, Bosacki says people should practice kindness every day towards all living beings, the environment and the natural world.

“Think of the ability to be kind and considerate and show care and compassion to yourself and others as a superpower and quick way to connect with others and nature around us,” she says. “We are all human and deserve to belong, be cared for and respected and be treated with compassion irrespective of gender identity, culture and abilities.

“Be kind and compassionate to all, and together, we can create a culture that encourages today’s youth to be the ‘Kind Generation.’”