Is teaching kids emotional intelligence important?

[invisible]

The little blighters can look after themselves!

 

[Enkidu]

I believe it would be better to try to spark a kids development more naturally though your own actions and thus example and through your own unintended remarks,
else you're just handing the kid a rule set like "don't steal, or you will go to jail", rule sets have no substance to them if they are not followed by ones own decision regardless of what consequences there may or may not be.

I think teaching a kid emotional intelligence any other way than by your own actions and example in life is like giving a loaded weapon to them.
It'll be like you're saying: If you behave this way, even if you don't really mean it, people will like you and believe you, it will help you get the things you want and manipulate them better

I completely agree. While I'm not completely against incorporating teaching EQ in curriculum in some standardized way, a child will always be a reflection of her/his parents and family culture. Guiding by example and a structured, democratized classroom where teacher:student hierarchy is reduced to nil is a far more holistic way of cultivating a culture of respect among children. Especially now that autism spectrum and developmental delays are identified earlier (than even 15 years ago), kids need to learn how to feel tolerance for others often drastically different from themselves, rather than simply hearing tenets from a textbook. For this reason, I think that Montessori, the Suzuki method, and Waldorf schools are more on point with teaching holism experientially.

So whilst I think the development of emotional intelligence is important, I believe it has to be done in a way that triggers its development naturally subconsciously in the manner intended.
And I really do think that can only be done by showing it through your own actions. Not by the manner I see some moms do to their kids and trying to guilt trip them into it:
"Do you think <name of some kid> likes you doing that?", "How do you think <name of kid> must feel?" "Wouldn't it be more fun for all if <enter solution>" because that is saying: behave like this or you won't be approved of by society, to get approval you must learn to pretend.

Nicely said