The Atlantic By Jenisha Watts

Response

Michael A. Johnson, March 25, 2026

Great article! I enjoyed reading it, along with the many reader responses, as a life-long public-school educator. Actually, both “sharing” and “taking turns” are critical teaching objectives and, therefore, necessary parts of the Pre-K and Kindergarten curriculum. In those cases, however, the “teaching tools” (building blocks, puzzles, etc.) belong to the entire class, so we are trying to teach patience, fairness, and, of course, the cooperative group activity of sharing and taking a fair turn.
In the Pre-K to K world, we are also trying to wean children out of the at-home stage, where they always had full access to their own personal playthings, so that, for the next 12 years, they will be able to work cooperatively with others.

However, teaching children empathy and compassion (often confused with sharing and taking turns) is a more complex and difficult task, one I found myself engaged in as a teacher and principal with students up to the point that they reached the 12th grade.

I believe parents most often do a better job of teaching what the author and many readers were really aiming for: helping future adults develop empathy and show compassion for others (which naturally leads to sharing and taking turns gracefully). Parents can do this best by example.

My mother’s formal education ended in high school, but she was always kind and generous to the less fortunate, even when we did not have many resources ourselves. She was always giving us tasks that taught empathy and compassion, such as shopping for or taking food to a homebound elder in the neighborhood, and we did so without receiving any financial compensation. Her position, perhaps a little out of tune in today’s world of intense self-centeredness, was that God sees everything, and doing good is its own reward. It is no wonder that my sister became a nurse and I went into education. Even outside of our professions, we have always sought to extend a helping hand to others, sharing generously and always respectfully and patiently waiting our turn.

Why I Stopped Forcing My Kid to Share: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/03/children-sharing-siblings-riends/686436/?gift=a0PD0qSlNMACBg3usWk487dYaYjgvFc6ryYzHDd1iok&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share