Cape-Gazette -Delaware- Fifth-graders participated in the Kindness Matters Essay Contest during The Great Kindness Challenge. For five days in January, Rehoboth Elementary School students joined students throughout the nation dedicating the week to creating a culture to prevent bullying through kindness and respect.
The winning essay by Swain Lee:
Kindness: What it should be.
Kindness is harder than people think. You can't just do nice things and become a kind person, you must truly work for it. The factors of being kind are so complicated and vast that no word or words can even get close to defining it. But really kindness is just a matter of whether or not you are. If kindness was easy enough that you just have to do kind things, then kindness would not be kindness, it would be doing kind things. I am writing this essay because one, I have to, and two, because many things are not kind, but you label them as kind, and I would like to inform people what things are kind.
Kindness is being yourself and letting others be themselves. And anybody who thinks that it is easy to do so, is mistaken. As I said, if kindness was easy, it would not truly be kindness. People must know that nobody will judge them for who they are, as long as they accept it, a person will be themselves. And when everybody does this, it would almost be a kind world. These things would most likely improve our futures. It would be a wonderful improvement that I would like to see happen.
Kindness leads to friendship, with friendship, you have the factor of being open. Telling people what you think or how you feel is more of an act of kindness than it seems. Being open is a sign of friendship to the receiver of whoever you are being open to. The receiver understanding and truly feeling for the person is another act of kindness. If everyone was open, it would almost be a kind world. With being open, our communities would be better places.
I said that kindness isn't just doing nice things, but you still have to. One nice act can change someone's whole view on life, stop them from making a horrible decision, or make them want to be your friend (which leads to friendship, which leads to being open ext.). You can even make yourself happy by making others happy. It will push you to do more kind things, which lead you to making other people to do kind things. This spreads a sort of "kind virus" if you will. If you do all of these things (be open, do kind things, and be yourself), you will truly be a kind person. With all of these things you can change the world.
I know many kind people because I'm smart enough to know who is. Everybody will probably write the same thing for whoever they pick so I'm just going to list some people that are kind. My family and stepfamily, Jeffery Hedrick, Gary Hayes, Kiran Russ, Phillip Wharton, Vinnie Diorio, Austin Rhue, Kairos Dervaes, Gage Demassi Parstone, David Dicamply, Ochun Richardson, Ella Rishko, Mikey Fredrick, Finn Forcucci, Flynn Kalb, Cameron Corado, and Tim Oheara. Some of these people are kind deep down. Some of these people embrace their kindness and share it as a gift. Either way, these people are kind. Although kindness takes determination, it can sometimes be hidden.
All of this talk about kindness makes me wonder if I'm truly kind. Whether I am or not, I will try to be. I didn't think this essay was terrible unlike my classmates. Because I get to inform people that kindness takes effort, compassion, and willpower. I did this to be kind. Maybe I am kind after all.
(Fifth grade instructor and contest mediator, Sarah Ross, is shown with (l-r) Finn Forcucci, Leonora Demerutis, Rahul A. Patel, honorable mention, Swain Lee, winner of the essay contest, and Judy Hudson, school social worker)
The winning essay by Swain Lee:
Kindness: What it should be.
Kindness is harder than people think. You can't just do nice things and become a kind person, you must truly work for it. The factors of being kind are so complicated and vast that no word or words can even get close to defining it. But really kindness is just a matter of whether or not you are. If kindness was easy enough that you just have to do kind things, then kindness would not be kindness, it would be doing kind things. I am writing this essay because one, I have to, and two, because many things are not kind, but you label them as kind, and I would like to inform people what things are kind.
Kindness is being yourself and letting others be themselves. And anybody who thinks that it is easy to do so, is mistaken. As I said, if kindness was easy, it would not truly be kindness. People must know that nobody will judge them for who they are, as long as they accept it, a person will be themselves. And when everybody does this, it would almost be a kind world. These things would most likely improve our futures. It would be a wonderful improvement that I would like to see happen.
Kindness leads to friendship, with friendship, you have the factor of being open. Telling people what you think or how you feel is more of an act of kindness than it seems. Being open is a sign of friendship to the receiver of whoever you are being open to. The receiver understanding and truly feeling for the person is another act of kindness. If everyone was open, it would almost be a kind world. With being open, our communities would be better places.
I said that kindness isn't just doing nice things, but you still have to. One nice act can change someone's whole view on life, stop them from making a horrible decision, or make them want to be your friend (which leads to friendship, which leads to being open ext.). You can even make yourself happy by making others happy. It will push you to do more kind things, which lead you to making other people to do kind things. This spreads a sort of "kind virus" if you will. If you do all of these things (be open, do kind things, and be yourself), you will truly be a kind person. With all of these things you can change the world.
I know many kind people because I'm smart enough to know who is. Everybody will probably write the same thing for whoever they pick so I'm just going to list some people that are kind. My family and stepfamily, Jeffery Hedrick, Gary Hayes, Kiran Russ, Phillip Wharton, Vinnie Diorio, Austin Rhue, Kairos Dervaes, Gage Demassi Parstone, David Dicamply, Ochun Richardson, Ella Rishko, Mikey Fredrick, Finn Forcucci, Flynn Kalb, Cameron Corado, and Tim Oheara. Some of these people are kind deep down. Some of these people embrace their kindness and share it as a gift. Either way, these people are kind. Although kindness takes determination, it can sometimes be hidden.
All of this talk about kindness makes me wonder if I'm truly kind. Whether I am or not, I will try to be. I didn't think this essay was terrible unlike my classmates. Because I get to inform people that kindness takes effort, compassion, and willpower. I did this to be kind. Maybe I am kind after all.
(Fifth grade instructor and contest mediator, Sarah Ross, is shown with (l-r) Finn Forcucci, Leonora Demerutis, Rahul A. Patel, honorable mention, Swain Lee, winner of the essay contest, and Judy Hudson, school social worker)
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- Posted by wavingatyou
- May 8, 2015
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