Four smiling children sitting together, arms around each other.
Despite controversial-but-compelling evidence that homework takes time away from families with little to no appreciable benefit for students, kids continue to slog through hours of school work outside the time they spend in the classroom. And despite evidence that small acts of kindness can infect a community like a positive virus, far too many kids are on either the giving or receiving end of unkind bullying on a regular basis.
Perhaps that's why an elementary school in Ireland decided to do something radical: ditch all homework for the month of December and assign kids "acts of kindness" instead.
In the weeks leading up to the holidays in 2019, kids at Gaelscoil Mhíchíl Uí Choileáin, Clonakilty were given a kindness task for each weekday. It broke down like this:
Monday- reach out to and communicate with an elderly person
Young girl hugging her smiling grandfather indoors.Photo credit: Canva
Tuesday- make a family member's life easier by taking over a chore or helping out without being asked
Two boys clean a table while a woman watches, with breakfast and juice nearby.Photo credit: Canva
Wednesday- random acts of kindness of any kind
Child cuddling a gray kitten lovingly in their arms.Photo credit: Canva
Thursday - do something kind for your own mental and emotional well-being
Smiling girl in a wheelchair hugging herself, wearing a yellow sweater, pink background.Photo credit: Canva
Students were asked to keep track of their kind deeds in a Kindness Diary. The school also created a Kindness Bucket, where students could write down and deposit positive observations and affirmations to boost the self-esteem of their schoolmates. On Friday mornings, random selections of the notes were read aloud for everyone to hear.
In addition, each class cooperated in a collective act of kindness for the community based on the students' own brainstorming as a team. How lovely.
It's easy to see why so many adults were on board with the idea.
"I LOVE this! Children learn from our example and how we treat them. Kindness is powerful for the giver as well as the receiver! We adults, parents and leaders of our future generation should also be displaying care, kindness and thoughtful acts of kindness as a living example! The world is changed by each doing a small kind act each day!!" one person wrote.
"What a wonderful, thoughtful and just brilliant idea! If this could only go worldwide and be practiced, I would like to believe there would be more tolerance and patience on this ball of gas," added another.
According to a Facebook post from the school, the students have been doing similar programs in December for years. In 2018, the focus was on Gratitude, which resulted in "overwhelming success and positivity."
Vice Principal Íde Ní Mhuirí was quoted in the post:
"We are encouraging our pupils to think of the real spirit of Christmas, the spirit of kindness and giving.
With such an emphasis on the materialistic and commercial aspect of Christmas, we often tend to overlook what it's really all about…. Good will!
Unfortunately not everyone is in a position to be able to enjoy Christmas, some are lonely, some are sad, some might yearn for what they do not have and some might simply not enjoy the festivities. But there is nobody in this world who wouldn't benefit from an act of kindness, and the joy of kindness is that it costs nothing.
What if schools everywhere did things like this, and not just during the holidays? What if we focused just as much on good character and citizenship as we do on test prep? What if each school took it upon itself to say, "Being kind is more important than being smart," not just for a month, but always?
The most pressing issues our world faces are not so much due to a lack of intelligence or knowledge, but rather a lack of shared values that compel us to care about one another. Without a foundation of basic human decency and kindness, knowledge and skill-building will only lead to more problems, while focusing more energy on kindness can only help build a better world for all of us.
As the school noted on Facebook:
In this world, consumed by social media, where our young people are constantly experiencing pressure, there is no better way to show them the way forward in the world than by practicing kindness. We all know that helping others makes us feel good about ourselves…. What's not to love about that?!? That feel good factor we experience form helping others cannot be quantified. Our message to the children is very simple: they can be the reason somebody smiles today and they can definitely help make this world a better place for others and for themselves.
In 2024, the school looked outside of its own community to see where it might help kids elsewhere. The staff asked that, in lieu of buying them Christmas gifts, families donate to the UNICEF Children of Gaza Appeal instead. They were able to raise €7501.00 in donations.
And in 2025, the project is still going strong. The order has switched up a bit (Mondays are for family kindness, Tuesdays are for helping the environment, Wednesdays are for reaching out to the elderly), but the overall spirit is still very much the same as when it started.
What a wonderful way to encourage well-rounded learning in ways that truly make a difference. Less homework and more kindness all around, please and thank you.
This article originally appeared six years ago.