Teaching empathy with Affective Statements

06 Jun 2025

At Stanmore Public School, we're supporting students to develop emotional intelligence and empathy through the use of affective statements.

Affective statements are simple but powerful expressions that let children know how their behaviour impacts others.

These statements use "I" language to express personal feelings, helping children become more aware of how their actions affect those around them.

For example, instead of saying “Put your towel on the rack,” an affective statement might be: “It upsets me that you leave your towel on the floor, can you please hang it up?” Or, to reinforce positive behaviour: “I’m really pleased that you hung up your towel.”

By modelling this language, we help students build empathy and begin to reflect on how their behaviour influences others. Over time, this fosters a more thoughtful, respectful learning environment for all.

They represent personal expressions of feeling in response to specic positive or negative behaviours of others.

THE CHEAT SHEET

1. I statement: talk about how the behaviour makes you feel
2. Awareness: let the person know their behaviour impacts you
3. Empathy: helps create an understanding the behaviour has an effect on everyone

Short video

Watch this short video about Affective Statements created by Real Schools.

YouTube - Affective Statements

PDF

Download the Real Schools parent practice article on the topic of Affective Statements.

Parent practice article: Affective statements (PDF 434.2 KB)

What does it look like at home and school?