A Lesson In Empathy by Kierra

A Lesson In Empathy by Kierra - August 2015 Scholarship Essay

While students are generally well-versed in subjects deemed necessary for life in the world such as math and language arts some of the broader life-skills are sadly neglected, thus leading to people going out into the world who cannot hope to understand it. One of these skills is the basic foundation of empathy, understanding others and how one’s own thought process isn’t the only one of importance. The failure to teach people these principles at a young age, and oftentimes the teaching of just the opposite, leads to an angrier group of people more distanced and detached from one another and the steady loss of a planet that should have lasted longer.

The class would start at the basics, having students interact with people of different groups and communicate one’s feelings and desires in life. This would show them that although there might be differences, one student might desire to become a teacher whereas another would aspire to become a stay at home parent, they are all people with basic hopes. Everyone wants to feel loved and appreciated. Everyone wants to feel safe when they go to sleep at night. Everyone wants a chance to reach their dreams, unimpeded by other people who feel that they are inherently better.

Students would have a section of each class dedicated to telling their personal problems and helping each other out, showing that everyone has issues that need acknowledged and not just themselves. This could help them branch out; maybe someone has trouble with math and thinks that they have the worst life in the world but when they hear their friend’s parents are going through a divorce they can step down and help. Someone else can step in and offer math tutoring for the first student, thus teaching the students to help others and realize that they are not alone in the world. They have to consider others’ feelings but other people can help them out as well.

This could help people interact with others and realize that their social class or orientation in society didn’t make them any better or worse than anyone else. Because of this need for different groups of students it would be a class for all four grades in high school, taking students from each grade and creating an as even as possible mix in order to help people understand that younger students have some good ideas and that older students aren’t all terrifying. This would be a small-scale representation of mixing groups but if students were to learn that it is safe, even enjoyable, to talk to people of different ages, etc, they would be more prepared for communicating with different people later. It helps prevent egotistical notions and provides confidence for otherwise nervous students.
The other part of the class would be based on environmental stewardship and how to be a good denizen of the planet. Students would learn about limited resources and the ways to share them with other people and organisms through a basic environmental science curriculum combined with an emphasis on recycling, limitation of natural resources, and an investigation into different creatures that are mistreated. Some of these investigations would be through ways such as poaching, (such as endangered creatures) senseless killing, personal mistreatment (such as animals, often pets, kept in unsanitary or unsafe conditions) or simply a lack of resources to utilize.

During the class students would also complete service projects such as volunteering at local homeless shelters, helping the elderly at retirement homes, helping pets get adopted at animal shelters, picking up litter on the sides of highways, etc. This would allow students to put what they learned into play through actually helping others.

In general, the class would help students open their eyes to the fact that other people and creatures exist. It would show how every life is important. It would be the first step in eliminating the “me” mentality of today’s world.