Journal Writing Project Kindness, why did it become a lost art, and how do we get it back?

By Trevor Garner

Hello everyone. Many of you have no idea who I am. To most, I am just another kid at a high school. To others I am a friend to some. But today I am a writer talking about something very important to me.

Kindness. Why did we lose it? You walk around town and you don’t hear people say good morning to one another, you have people scared and untrusting not seeing. Why did we become like this?

Back in the old days it was so much EASIER to be nice. Nowadays people are so full of jealousy, scorn, rage. To me, it doesn’t make sense. Why be like that when there is an alternative? Now before most of you go thinking, “What does this guy know? He is just a kid!”

Well, you are right, I am just a kid, but I also see how being nice to everyone goes a long way. You see, in my short life I have always wondered, “WHY?” Why are there so many people filled with so many bad emotions? That is because they didn’t have someone who would offer them a smile or a joke. Someone who isn’t afraid to go up and say, “Hi.” People may not say “hi” back, but at least you said something. Just that one word may have lit up their whole day. Sure, there are people you dislike, I know that feeling very well but still say good morning to them once in awhile. You might not know what is wrong with them, so always try being kind to them. Who knows, maybe one day they will be nice to you. It takes a lot more courage to be nice than being mean.

Now I am getting to the second part of the title of this article. How do we get back this lost art? There are so many ways to get it back. You could start by saying “hello” to everyone you come across. We could try not to jump to conclusions about other people too quickly, as well. Because if you do that, you might not learn something new. I have seen this happen firsthand – people meet someone new and they immediately start to judge them.

Another way we could bring back kindness is to maybe just not be jealous. I mean, it is an emotion, I get that it is something we can’t control, but doesn’t it seem weird to be jealous of someone? Sure, they might be better at other things than you, but I am almost 100% sure that everyone is better at something than someone else.

Now the next one I admit I have trouble with – thinking before talking. I am a good observer and sometimes I speak after seeing something, much to my classmates’ dismay. Maybe we need to get a little bit better at thinking before talking.

Another way we can bring back the art is just to do completely random acts of kindness. I believe that if one person does a random act of kindness, then maybe other people will, too.

Here is one last way we could bring back kindness. UNDERSTAND OTHERS. Everyone has problems, some people don’t have people they can talk to, to work through them. So if someone is like the nicest person you ever met, then does a 360 and is mean the next day, try to understand why they would act this way. Try to find the story of why they are sad or angry.

Now I know that a lot of this sounds really naive, but I have hope that we can reverse the course we are on. Try to become nice instead full of negative emotions, because in all honesty, it isn’t good for you or others if you are mean.

I know that people are going to take a look at this and laugh at it but I hope you gave this a read.

Trevor Garner is a student at Chatfield High School. He is one of 14 area students participating in the Journal Writing Project, now in its 23rd year.