UK private school to offer ‘empathy lessons’

Lynsey_ADMIN_

The Head of one of Britain’s most prestigious high schools has noticed such an increase in isolation, apathy, and indifference towards the suffering of others in his students that he will introduce empathy lessons as early as next year.

Andrew Halls, the headmaster of the exclusive King's College School in Wimbledon, which costs a whopping £20,400 ($25,000) a year, has decided to take a more proactive approach to help combat what he sees as a growing disconnect between learners at his school and the world around them.

When speaking with the Times, he describes his perception that, as time goes on, students "become locked in a world of incomprehension, with an increasingly two-dimensional understanding of other people, [and are] incapable of forming real relationships in the world of flesh and blood...”

While the phenomenon has been observed worldwide for years, many felt it was just a symptom of the changing times and that a balance would eventually be struck.

New research indicates, however, that adults born in the 1990s have lower empathy scores than those born 10 and 20 years earlier reports the Sunday Times.

“...Underlying the community of likes, Photoshopped pictures, shared Instagram obsessions is an empty wilderness of solitude and disconnection,” Halls added.

https://www.rt.com/uk/379522-uk-private-school-empathy-lessons/

Rosie_MOD_

what he sees as a growing disconnect between learners at his school and the world around them.

When speaking with the Times, he describes his perception that, as time goes on, students "become locked in a world of incomprehension, with an increasingly two-dimensional understanding of other people, [and are] incapable of forming real relationships in the world of flesh and blood...”

Perhaps this lack of comprehension and empathy towards our fellow man is related to growing reliance on social media  to communicate even within a circle of friends standing within a few feet of each other.  Next thing we'll be accepting robots on an equal footing especially if they say everything we want to hear.

GrumpyGuy

Modern western (and some other) societies also don't teach the importance of empathy anymore.  It's hard to get all the things you want if you stop to worry about the well being of others, after all.

I think teaching about empathy isn't going to work in a school setting because, without fail, they'll manage to deliver the lessons in a dry, detached and utterly boring manner. 

That's supposed to be the job of parents who, it seems, are dropping balls left and right.

Rosie_MOD_

In one sentence "Do unto others as you would be done by" goes a long way toward sharing of empathy.  The principles in the Bible which a lot of us learned as children are often forgotten if they're learned at all over the last few decades.

GrumpyGuy

In my experience, the response to hearing "Do unto others as you would have done to yourself" is eye-rolling, or mutterings like "yeah yeah, whatever."

It's like people are annoyed to be reminded of basic religious teachings that everyone should live by.  Pretty sure they still sign "Christian" on census forms though!

Rosie_MOD_

Australia's recent census form proudly carried a space to mark x for "No Religion". It did not however have a space simply for Christian although I recall one for Catholic and maybe other religions classed as Christian.  Turned out it was an Atheist group who backed having "No Religion" included.

Matt_ADMIN_

Farmer_Sean said:

In my experience, the response to hearing "Do unto others as you would have done to yourself" is eye-rolling, or mutterings like "yeah yeah, whatever."

It's like people are annoyed to be reminded of basic religious teachings that everyone should live by.  Pretty sure they still sign "Christian" on census forms though!

I have found, to my great disappointment and sadness, that the people who argue most vociferously for Christianity are the ones who are the least in practicing it. I suppose that's why Jesus himself complains about this fact in the gospel.

Matt_ADMIN_

Empathy is not something that can be taught, because by its very definition it must be experienced. To truly teach children empathy, it would be best to have them live in the world, among the Iranians, among the Yemeni, among the Africans, among the North Koreans, so that the forces of empathy within will possess greater power than the propaganda mythos foisted upon them by their would-be puppeteers.

Rosie_MOD_

If children are surrounded by parents, or teachers with empathy they are more likely to feel empathy for others, just as bullying and mistreatment  affect those who bear the brunt of it, these reactions tend to be passed on.