We have all heard that EQ or emotional quotient is a greater predictor of life success than their IQ or intelligence quotient. But why is developing your EQ so important earlier in life?
By fine-tuning their EQ (also known as emotional intelligence), kids can actually learn social and emotional skills that will build resilience and well-being in their lives into adulthood. There’s also a relationship between emotional intelligence and bullying, with EQ initiatives seen as a way to help prevent it.
As part of Project Empowerment, participants work on service-related projects, read and watch materials that evoke empathy, and participate in role play and real-life situations. Research states that students build empathy and compassion by putting research and inquiry into a cause they care about. To that end, children are invited to explore opportunities to make changes related to their EQ in their lives (e.g. self, family, community and world around them).
According to Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence who helped to popularize emotional intelligence, there are five key elements to it:
- Self-awareness
- Self-regulation
- Motivation
- Empathy
- Social skills
Since Goleman’s book came out, study after study has proven that EQ or emotional intelligence predicts future success in relationships, health and quality of life. A 2003 Harvard Business Review report showed that 80% of competencies that differentiate top performers from others are in the domain of emotional intelligence.
Some schools have integrated emotional intelligence into the curriculum. Synapse School in Menlo Park is a place where emotional intelligence is taught alongside reading and math. Founded by Stanford-based educators, it is a laboratory school where children learn social and emotional skills every day and a big component is teaching parents to practice at home. As parents, we can teach EQ to prepare kids to NOT be perpetrators, victims or bystanders of a bullying process. We can raise them to feel empowered to stand up for themselves and for others when they feel that something is wrong.