Empathy and Keeping Your Pencil Sharp

How to Leave a Positive MARK
on the World

Open Ended

Mrs. Green, Sally's teacher, points out a mistake that Sally made in class today. Sally gets mad that Mrs. Green noticed her mistake and discussed it with her. Sally does not like Mrs. Green because they do not have a lot in common and she does not want to listen to anything Mrs. Green tells her. Sally goes home and makes some negative social media posts about Mrs. Green. The posts go viral and everyone is talking about Mrs. Green. Is it okay for Sally to make public posts about someone else when she has a disagreement with them? Why or why not?

Empathy is....

The act of trying to understand the thoughts, ideas, and feelings of another person.

Some used to describe empathy as "putting yourself in someone else's shoes."

Sometimes it is hard to develop empathy because many people feel that you have to agree with someone to understand their feelings, ideas, or beliefs.

Empathy does not mean endorsement, however. It simply means that you have listened to another person and you can see where they may be coming from. Two people can disagree and stil be respectful of someone else's ideas.

​What Empathy is NOT....

Nobody is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes from time to time.

However, when someone has empathy, they can realize that your mistake does not necessarily define you as a person.

​

​Everyone makes mistakes.

We can simply agree to disagree with others without turning the disagreement of ideas into a huge drama or online war.

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​By using empathy...

​Your social media presence...

is viewed by potential employers. Some employers go back years to analyze the content that you have posted to get a feel for the kind of character that you have.

Keeping positive interactions in person and online is vital to making yourself marketable for a variety of jobs.

No one wants to work with someone who publicly chastises anyone.

Open Ended

How can having empathy help you "leave a better mark" on this world?

Poll

Is it okay to publicly post about a personal disagreement online or with others?

• Yes. It is okay to roast someone on the internet if you do not like them.

• No, It is not okay to roast someone on the internet if you do not like them.