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“Kindness is so powerful,” says Jessie Hansen, a motivational speaker who came to Block Island all the way from Utah on Monday to deliver a message to the children of the Block Island School and to present one of them with a special award.
Hansen has degrees in psychology and social work and the Kindest Kid in America program is the capstone project for her doctorate. Per her website, her thesis is, “Kindness can prevent school shootings and kindness can be just as contagious as hate if it’s presented in the right way.”
In her session with the elementary school students Hansen explored the power of music and other methods that can be used when someone is feeling down. She says she sings when she’s happy, or sad, or mad, or scared and asked the kids what they like to do when they feel bad. “We need to have something we can do when there’s too much pressure,” she said.
One of those things can be grumpy cat videos, and Hansen showed a few short ones, easily getting the kids to laugh – and proving a point about the power of laughter to get rid of pressure.
Then came a “raise your hands if” exercise. With their eyes closed, the kids were asked if they had ever experienced various instances that made them feel bad about themselves or bullied. As a child, Hansen had the nickname “Messy Jessie,” and she thought that meant something was wrong with her, she said.
Then she told a story about going to seventh grade. It was a new school and she would know nobody, so she was scared to go on the first day. Then she saw her best friend. But, that best friend refused to acknowledge her and Hansen became a victim of her, and others’ bullying. “I made a bad choice,” Hansen told the kids. “My bad choice was the hate cycle.” She was mean to everybody around her, including her teachers. Then, she got called into the principal’s office. “He was tough with me,” said Hansen. “He said, ‘in this family we value kindness,’” and pulled her out of her funk. The key, Hansen told the kids, was that when you have a problem, you should find a trusted adult.
Continuing on with the power of kindness, Hansen presented the kids with a “Kindness Challenge,” whereby they should all start with performing five acts of kindness, and then increase the number of acts performed every day tenfold over a period of five days. And write them down.
With that challenge accepted, it was time for the surprise – a Kindest Kid in America award. But it’s not just any award, each child selected for the award, and so far there have been 20 across 14 states awarded since September, has a special book written about him or her. The contents of the book come from the nominating process in which children are nominated by teachers or other adults they work with.
At the Block Island School, the recipient of the award was third grader Mac Transue, and the book written about him is called “Magic Mac.” It tells the tale of Mac’s kindness when his little brother had a difficult birth and the comfort he both received and gave to others, developing a special friendship with “Nurse Liz” of the Block Island School along the way. That special friendship has persisted and the two often have breakfast together. (Mac’s book is available on Amazon.)
When Hansen finished reading the book aloud to all, she ended up by saying, “We need a bunch of Macs in this world.”