'The language the blind can hear and the deaf can see' - perhaps one of the most well - known and memorable descriptions of kindness, given by Mark Twain. Mother Teresa described how kind words can be, 'short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly echoes.' In the Quran there is a story of a woman who was sinful - but by giving a dehydrated dog a drink of water from her was permitted an entrance into Heaven - kindness is by definition putting someone else's needs before your own; taking a moment to stop and help another person, whether the said person is a friend, a family member or a complete stranger. And perhaps what is so beautiful about acts of kindness is their sheer simplicity; the fact that often being kind is just something natural and unforced; like holding a door open for somebody or giving a chair up for a pregnant lady. Being an age old concept, it comes as no surprise that there are underlying societal encouragements, predominantly from the media, to be kind, as expected and, as of course, there should be.
And yet - research from the Department for Education in 2017 found that 40% of young people had been bullied in the previous year, and 21% of children who had experienced bullying daily had truanted - 3 times the proportion of those who were not bullied. According to a survey by YMCA England and Wales last year, 55% of children in England and Wales say that they have been bullied about their appearance. And the reason for this must of course be from the subliminal messages of the media - the same media on which celebrities like Beyonce share their hashtags like, '#beyGood,' encouraging raising money for disadvantaged people, or where Emma Watson spreads goodness to the world, as a UN Goodwill Ambassador for Women, and founder of the HeforShe movement, aiming to ensure women an equal pay to men. Undeniably, these acts are extremely admirable and social media is a perfect way to spread good news and positivity - but equally so it is a perfect platform for big companies and organisations to silently slip into the sides of people's minds and stick their ideas firmly into place inside people's heads - ideas of how women ought to be thinner than carrot sticks of women wearing burqas are to be feared; and the list could go on forever - ideas which we tend to describe as stereotypes. And although there are active movements by many groups to move away from stereotypes; be open minded; frequent reminders of the importance of tolerance and respect, if not kindness and caring, for other people - it is the biggest companies that have the most power - and power is a dangerous tool - because sadly,the vast majority of companies with power tend to want to generate income as quickly, cheerfully and effortlessly as possible - and they recognise that for them, it is far easier and more worth their while to make money quickly by buying into, exploiting and exaggerating stereotypes then to even question the ethics of their ideas, let alone campaign for change - of course, there are some exceptions to this idea, but it seems to be a general rule.
As Orwell ended his masterpiece of Animal Farm - 'the creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again - and already it was impossible to say which was which.' This is why we must all make the choice - to please the crowd and blend into a culture of corruption, or stand up for change, go against and change the rules? The choice is entirely one's own.
