The Golden Rule

            When I was younger, I noticed that some people were treated differently outside school. Some people were respected and others were basically spat upon. I asked my dad why this happened to those people, and he said “People are racist. People are greedy. People will do anything to take away everything that you will work for. Don’t let them take that away son.” I was afraid of what he meant, so I learned to be bitter. I learned to expect everyone to be as cold as the newly fallen snow. New York had hard streets, and they were what helped me survive today. I went on avoiding people and expecting them to want to hurt me. I put on a mask of sarcastic comebacks and funny jokes to cover up my doctrine of hate. I wished that some way I could connect with someone but it was always snuffed out by my father and the ways of Darwin-like survival. When I moved away from him, I started to realize that he was wrong. All of the illusion that people are evil was not all true. It was when I came to high school is when I realized there are two sides to every story and every person. We are all scared and we all go through life. Empathy is the only way we could ever understand one another. If people my age knew this truth, the world as we know it would change.

            I discovered that empathy was what people lacked when I overheard someone talking about someone else behind their back. They spoke mean things about her and about how she acted. They had no idea about what she was going through and who she even was. Her friends looked at her differently from then on, only gawking at her at what she wore or what she said.

She had lost all that she held so dearly only on a group of people who had no idea who she was. They judged her for her differences. That completely ruined her. It affected her more than anyone could even believe. She contemplated suicide and ending it all because her family did not love her before this. She was now completely alone with no idea what to do. Her grades dropped, her mind drifted, and she was on the verge of total collapse. I tried to help her through that part of her life, but why? Why did such a sweet girl have to go through all of this despair and sadness because all of what someone who was important to her thought only by the outside? I have only one simple question to ask the one who insinuated lies against her. How would it feel if someone said those same tragedies about you? What if you lost all of your friends, too? Why does anyone deserve that? She is living a better life with actual friends who were by her side when people understood why she was feeling the way she did. They had empathy towards her while embracing her for her inner good, which is the meaning of the golden rule.

             In my initial research, I discovered that subjects tested for empathy with higher tendencies of empathetic actions had a higher I.Q. than subjects with lower scores, according to the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. Their article suggests that subjects with education and testing, empathetic tendencies increased with each test. The subjects learned to feel more sensitively to what images they were being shown. Subjects without the education were shown the same images with a result of their initial feelings being slim to none compared to the trial group. Imagine this concept in schools. Students with differences are being treated differently for their initial impressions and are being judged harshly. This brings un-needed strife in schools across the U.S. This can lead to lashing out violently, returned verbal or physical abuse or even suicide. Why should anyone be afflicted with this at such an early age? If ethics education was placed in schools, the world would be a much better place.

            I would love to research this topic because this subject has affected my life in so many ways. I do not want to sit idly by while my voice has the opportunity to be heard. Children across America are being afflicted with bullies, being judged by their peers for their differences, and living miserable lives thanks to those who know no empathy. My research is dedicated to finding the cure to end this plague upon the upbringing of America. I want to show the world that there will not always be torment and despair but a new level of understanding with everyone to be equal and validated by each other. Empathy should not be a rare occurrence in life. It should be common courtesy. We are all struggling, so why not help those who need it?