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IS BEING KIND OLD-FASHIONED?
In an increasingly technological world, it has become normal to be
bombarded daily with tragedies that reveal the darkest sides of
humanity. From short social media clips to news reports, it is
everywhere – you simply cannot avoid this.
Whilst it’s true that we, as a society,
are more technologically connected than ever before, having access
to worldwide information whenever, wherever, the real question is:
are we actually more connected? Have we, in some way, become
desensitized to suffering? Well, we believe we have. This growing
tendency to be numb to others’ pain has motivated us to embrace this
project twice as hard.
In this semester’s teamwork, our English
teacher proposed a project where we would have to really explore the
meaning of Kindness. We were asked to reflect on what it means to be
kind, who we know that is warm-hearted, among other topics. We also
completed multiple vocabulary-related exercises and read an
inspiring text that opened our eyes to the ways kindness can be
expressed and the benefits it brings to both the giver and the
receiver.
The final stage of the project involved
capturing moments where we performed acts of kindness. Our
classmates came up with various ideas, everything from distributing
menstrual pads and helping school staff to cleaning up and to
keeping elderlies company.
We often view the world through a lens
of large-scale problems: war, corruption, violence…We look upon all
these issues and view them as overwhelming problems embedded in
society, far beyond our reach. But what if we focused on the
individuals that make up these “big pictures”? We, small agents, are
the change. The fact that our class was able to act out acts of
kindness with such ease proves everyone has that same ability – and
it’s far from old-fashioned, it’s more relevant than ever.
Ana Leonor, Beatriz Correia (11.º J)
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