Kindness, one of the character strengths we need most

"One who is kind is sympathetic and gentle with others. He is considerate of others' feelings and courteous in his behavior. He has a helpful nature. Kindness pardons others' weaknesses and faults. Kindness is extended to all -- to the aged and the young, to animals, to those low of station as well as the high."

-Ezra Taft Benson

Also stated by our greatest philosopher of the Ancient Greece, Plato, “Kindness is more than deeds, it is an attitude, an expression, a look and a touch”; and it is “anything that lifts another person”. It is one of the 24 character strengths[1] identified by Peterson and Seligman (2004) who claim that character strengths are seemingly stable, morally valued by every culture and hold true across time and geographic borders. People can manifest it through thinking, feeling and action. When skillfully applied, the character strengths we manifest can actually have a significant positive impact on our life.

The main theme of the “Firefly Award Scheme” this year is “Kindness”, as a learning focus in the promotion of “Positive Education” and as a tool in building the necessary character strengths for all students. By putting theories into practice and reflection through interaction with others, and in the context of school or family, we give them a little stamp each time when they excel their kindness to others, as well as his surrounding environment. We want our students to be equipped with the necessary character strengths one day so that they can be a good citizen who loves himself and others, as well as his family, his workplace and the country they belong and serve.

When we first promoted this character strength of “Kindness” to our students, what we heard about the good deeds of our students were all related to the reports they told us, e.g. being helpful to teachers or parents, being nice to friends, being polite and kind to visitors or strangers, or being willing to make friends with their buddies, etc. But later, it is evident that we can witness a lot of good behaviours demonstrated even in their daily life, e.g. two P.6 boys picked up litters voluntarily without others’ notice after attending assemblies; many students shared their duties in class so that all were included and had contributions; our girls’ cheerleading team members won the championship by helping one another to achieve their best in the competitions; a P.1 boy who shared his umbrella with a classmate in a rainy day did not notice that his behavior was being observed…

Be kind, in sum, we can:

Share more,
Give more, and
Love more,

from individuals to community, the environment around us, the country we belong and the world we live in. And finally, please also remember the quotes from Lao Tzu,

“Kindness in words creates CONFIDENCE. Kindness in thinking creates PROFOUNDNESS. Kindness in giving creates LOVE!”

Sincerely wish that our students can be nurtured with the necessary character strengths under the six virtues, where we can find in them with the right wisdom and knowledge, courage, humanity, justice, temperance and transcendence.

Reference

Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification.New York: Oxford University Press and Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. www.viacharacter.or

[1] The 24 character strengths include: creativity, curiosity, judgement, love of learning, perspective, bravery, perseverance, honesty, zest, love, kindness, social intelligence, teamwork, fairness, leadership, forgiveness, humility, prudence, self-regulation, appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope, humour and spirituality