On December 24th 2017, let the record show that I had an idea that I voiced to my Twitter community. I wanted to develop a curriculum for schools to teach children empathy. We are born into this world being kind small children who care about others. Kindergarten is a magical place where we learn to share cookies and toys with the careful guidance of adults. Unfortunately, as we get older we become less empathetic and more self-absorbed. Not everyone falls victim to this sort of behavior, but as a society we are told to focus on self-love and put other people after you. This is a wonderful idea because you can’t care for others well if you don’t take care of yourself. However, it doesn’t mean that we have to abandon the idea of understanding other people’s perspectives and caring for them genuinely. I’ve found the concept of empathy has lost it’s meaning in the 21st century and I want to show our next generation how to care for others as well as themselves.
As a mental health activist with a clinical background in counseling as well as teaching I have the qualifications to teach children how to care about one another. They already know how to do this, but it’s about reinforcing the skills we are born with and encouraging them to come out without expending effort.
When I told my community about my plans to teach empathy, I was immediately attacked by a White Nationalist. She said that I wasn’t respecting White people by teaching empathy. The White Supremacists on Twitter started piling on top of her tweet and telling me that I wasn’t a good White person. Then someone told me that they didn’t think a “Jew” could teach empathy. I happen to be Jewish, so I’m assuming since the tweet was directed at me, he meant me.
If you go to the thread on Twitter, you’ll see a lot of hate speech and aggressive words against immigrants, Hilary Clinton, Mexican people, Native Americans and Jews. It’s astounding to me that a tweet that innocently was created to help others resulted in the discrimination of multiple cultures and ethnic groups. I am saddened by the fact that so many of these people are living in America. It was a reality check for me; there are so many close-minded racists and bigots in America and that’s why we have the current American political administration in power.
I’m not delusional, and I know that New York City and Portland, Oregon (two places that I’ve lived) are anomalies with regard to political standpoints. However, I’m deeply saddened by the fact that there are so many hateful people in the world and it makes me sad for our children. I want to rectify this situation by teaching the next generation how to care for one another. Maybe then instead of focusing on hate, we can focus on love and appreciation. Instead of hurting different cultures we can embrace them. We all need more empathy in our lives and perhaps the White Supremacists could benefit from some too.
