“There’s only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.”
— Kurt Vonnegut, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
Tonight, a bunch of people I know, like and respect shared yet another video on Facebook of someone accidentally making a fool of themselves. The people who shared it were other educators, some SLA students, folks I know from other parts of my life… folks from across the myriad pathways of my life. I can only imagine how many times that video has been seen across the world by now.
For whatever reason, tonight, that made me really sad. I wondered what those people would think if that was their student, their parent, their child, their sibling. We’ve become callous to the people in those videos, to the people behind the screen, and maybe too many of us are callous to the people we see in person every day.
Certainly, Schadenfreude is nothing new. People have long gotten pleasure in the suffering of others. But that doesn’t make it right.
More than anything else in this world, I value kindness – real kindness where we extend ourselves to others simply because we can.
Kindness is more than being nice. Kindness requires empathy. It requires listening. It actually requires asking people what they need – not giving them what we think they need, but listening to their needs and acting upon them.
When we engage in true kindness, we must remove the space between us and those around us. We must learn to not treat people as “The Other.” We must enter into what Martin Buber called the “I and Thou” relationship. And it means we must acknowledge that other people are as important as we are.
I want to live in a world where people think about being kind as a reflex. I want to see schools where students, teachers, administrators are willing to see each other, listen to each other, and treat each other with kindness and care.
I truly believe that if we can build schools that operate first and foremost from a place of kindness that our kids can build a world that does as well. Our students will learn what we teach, what we model, what we live. Could there be anything more powerful than seeing our students go out and change the world to a place where people truly cared for one another?
As Mr. Vonnegut said, “God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.”
Thank you for sharing such a touching post! Every word that you have said reminds me of why teachers must be excellent servant leaders. We must take into consideration the needs of others, be selfless, show charity in endless ways. Kindness is intricately linked to curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Teachers need to ensure that content, strategies, and learning experiences cater to the learning styles, profiles, and levels of readiness of each child in the classroom. Kindness extends beyond these doors because often times teachers have to make home visits, conduct parent teacher conferences, and one on one sessions so that they can accurately plan curriculum that caters for culturally responsive teaching. Our attitudes often influence our performances, and this affects our relationships with our students. They always want to emulate us, and all the qualities that we display. Kindness goes a long way! Thanks for the inspirational words!
Tamsin