“True sympathy is the personal concern which demands the giving of one’s soul.” These are the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. But what does he mean by sympathy? The word sympathy actually has a Greek root ? pathos, which means “feeling.” The prefix sym- also comes from the Greek, meaning “together with.” In short, sympathy is the ability to see what others actually think and feel.
Rosie Dutton, an employee of the U.K.-based company Relax Kids, illustrated what sympathy might look like in the classroom. Dutton introduced her students to a couple of apples. As she picked one of them up, she began to shower insults at it, letting her students know how much she despised the apple. In turn, the kids followed along by hurling phrases like “You’re a smelly apple” and “I don’t even know why you exist.” But for the second apple, Dutton was kind and gentle with her voice. In contrast, the students said, “What a beautiful, colorful, lovely apple you are.” Although the apples shared a similar appearance on the outside, the one that received the insults turned out to be bruised and mushy inside.
“When people are bullied, especially children, they feel horrible inside and sometimes don’t show or tell others how they are feeling,” Dutton stated. The words we use every day have the power to lift us up, but they also have the ability to destroy and tear us apart. The next time we interact with our family, classmates, and friends, let’s all try to use a bit more sympathy ? especially with our words.