Psychology Essay Example: Empathy Should Be Taught In School

Empathy is a link between two individuals where one psychologically identifies with the feelings and emotions of the other. Empathy is an important quality in the day to day lives of people as it enables the creation of relationships through connections and bonds amongst individuals. Can empathy be taught in schools? What kind of world would exist if people were empathetic? Empathy is an invaluable life skill which enables people to act in the interest of others, reduce stress, discourage anti-social behavior, and promote effective communication. It is an essential component of creating a better world hence it should be taught in schools. This paper highlights benefits of integrating empathy lessons into schools and how they are helpful in improving today's world.

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Firstly children in school need to be taught on empathy since it helps them better their social behaviors, assist their fellow pupils and keep off bad behaviors such as bullying. Empathy skills enable coexistence in schools where children come from diverse cultures. Empathetic kids' possess listening and understanding skills that allow them to thrive peacefully with classmates from different cultures. Empathy ensures there are no hate crimes among children in school.

Another reason for integrating empathy lessons in schools' curriculum is because empathetic children become responsible future citizens. Empathy enables individuals to cope up with others in jobs since it creates harmonious relationships. People without this skill are unable to proceed further with their education or employment since they cannot connect and create meaningful relationships with others. Consequently, the probability of empathetic kids successfully going through the education system and securing jobs is high while those who are not empathetic may end up as school dropouts who end up relying on government support. Increased reliance burdens the government which could have allocated the funds for assisting such individuals to other programs.

For a better future, the early teaching of empathy skills in schools helps children to be better in their future lives. Empathetic children have the desire to change the status quo at early ages as a result of the experiences they have. With empathy, the world will change due to the availability of individuals with the ability to implement change upon need. Changes benefit many people in the society and the world.

Through learned empathy, children can learn from each other. A child who understands a concept has to put himself into the shoes of another one who does not understand the same so as to transfer the knowledge. The ability to deliver this information and ensure the other person understands is a difficult task. However, this interactive teaching and learning leaves students happy, satisfied and can only be achieved if students are empathetic.

Bullying is an act of causing harming and humiliating others. Bullying is prevalent in schools and has adverse effects on children since it causes sadness, depression, loneliness, and anxiety. Bullying tends to have long-term effects which may impact on children's life even in their adulthood. Teaching empathy in schools reduces the bullying behavior either online or at school. Consequently, empathetic children will help out their colleagues, possess better social skills and only engage in positive behaviors.

In conclusion, it is clear that empathy is an invaluable life skill that leads to a better world. Therefore teaching of this skill should be integrated into the schools' curriculum for students to learn it at an early age. Early learning of empathy will lead to people looking at the world through other people's eyes which will ensure fewer conflicts, greater trust, harmonious relationships and deeper compassion. Empathy is essential to the creation of a civilized society hence a better world.