Thursday, April 4, 2019

A Simple Act of Kindness

In Teen ate lunch alone for years, then the student council stepped in, a student was seen sitting alone, and then members of the student council invited them to sit with them. What a simple act of kindness! No faculty or parent was involved and students did this on their own. But I don’t believe this would have happened if those kind students hadn’t been taught that kindness is important at some point in their lives.

Let’s face it, teenagers can be mean. It is hard to stand up to your peers and by inviting someone to join your group is one way of standing up to your peers. It took courage for them to do this and I’m so proud of these students who I don’t even know.

I’m also proud of someone writing this article about this kindness. Too often we hear the negative stories about teens and how they are angry, violent, and commit crimes. I guess the news media feels that those are the stories that make money. I’ve stopped reading the negative articles. When I find the positive articles, I try to leave positive comments when possible. Media needs to be encouraged to write good things.

When I find news stories like this, I like to share them with students. I want them to see that I am giving a lot of attention to the positive actions of students.

When the shootings of the mosque in New Zealand happened, the prime minister has refused to use the shooter’s name. She will not give him notoriety for his actions. I applaud this person’s willingness to do this. As more and more leaders and media continue this trend, I believe those who want to copycat crimes will be discouraged if they are doing it just to seek fame.

What positive news have you heard about young people lately? Please share. I believe many people would love to see these things!

Photo by Sandrachile . on Unsplash

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