Students at the Breakthrough Magnet School are instructed that humans are imperfect beings. As such, we will make mistakes or bad choices sometimes. Making a Generous Apology to another person can often, though not always, enable the other person to “forgive” us.

• A generous apology should contain: “Apology” vocabulary, i.e. “I’m sorry” or “I apologize”.
• The circumstances of the “mistake”, example: “for talking about your mother”.
• The feelings the apologizer imagines the listener might have felt in the circumstances, example: “I can imagine that you must have felt hurt and insulted when I said those things.”
• A commitment for the future improved behavior in these circumstances, example: “I promise I will speak more respectfully about your family in the future”.

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