BASE Babywatching is a simple and effective programme designed to promote empathy among children and reduce classroom aggression. BASE stands for Babywatching Against Aggression andAnxiety, for Sensitivity and Empathy. When the programme runs, a warmer atmosphere is created in which children can feel safe to settle, to learn and to make trusting relationships.
Benefits of the scheme extend beyond the classroom, with children developing sensitivity and empathy to people generally, not just their classmates. Participants have also been reported to sleep better, their concentration improves, they are less fearful in their interactions, and when upset they ask for help more easily.
The programme was developed by Dr Karl-Heinz Brisch, head of the Department of Paediatric Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy at the Dr von Hauner Children’s Hospital at the University of Munich. However, it also draws on the work of US psychiatrist Dr Henri Parens, whose family history of persecution during WWII had left him determined to find ways to enable children to grow up as empathic individuals.
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