In this powerful conversation, Dr. Michele Borba joins us to discuss what she calls the growing “empathy crisis” in children and teens — and why empathy may be one of the most important skills we can nurture in the next generation.
Dr. Borba is an internationally recognized educational psychologist, parenting expert, speaker, and bestselling author of UnSelfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me World. Her work explores how empathy shapes children’s mental health, moral development, resilience, relationships, leadership, and long-term success.
Together, we explore why self-absorption, overvaluing achievement, excessive praise, screen use, stress, and cultural messages around performance may be making it harder for children to notice, care, and respond to the needs of others. Dr. Borba shares why empathy is not simply a personality trait children either have or do not have — it is a skill that can be taught, practiced, and strengthened through everyday moments at home and school.
We also talk about how to raise children who are deeply caring without becoming people-pleasers, overly accommodating, or lacking boundaries. Dr. Borba offers practical ways parents can help children see themselves as kind, responsible, and capable of making a positive difference, including using family values, identity-based language, perspective-taking, repair, and calm accountability.
This episode is a hopeful reminder that empathy is not “soft.” It is a strength. And in a world that often prioritizes achievement, popularity, and self-promotion, raising children who can care deeply, regulate themselves, take another person’s perspective, and act with courage may be one of the most important parenting tasks of our time.
In this episode, we discuss:
• Why empathy is declining and what may be driving the shift
• The connection between empathy, resilience, happiness, anxiety, and academic success
• How achievement culture can undermine caring and moral development
• Why overpraising or overvaluing children may increase narcissistic traits
• How to raise empathetic children with strong boundaries
• The role of screens, social media, and self-focus in empathy development
• How to help children repair hurt and understand the impact of their actions
• Practical ways families can build empathy into daily life
Dr. Borba reminds us that children become more empathetic not through lectures, but through repeated experiences of being guided to notice others, reflect on their impact, repair harm, and live out the values their family stands for.
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