LESSON-9 Empathy

LESSON-9 Empathy

Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another and feeling with the heart of another.

                                                                                               Alfred Adler

9.1 Introduction

Dear children, empathy means the ability to feel and understand the feelings of others. In fact, it is the ability to imagine what the other person is feeling by standing in his / her place. We often have a sympathetic attitude towards some people, like our near and dear ones who are always worthy of our empathy but we should have an empathetic attitude towards everyone. Empathy is the foundation of our good relationships.

Children, we must remember that empathy is not a feeling of pity or compassion towards anyone but it is the feeling in which we can fully understand the other person's mental state and can relate with him/her. We often find that our relationships with friends and family members are very strong. If any of them is in trouble we also feel sad and always look forward to help them whereas the level of empathy towards strangers is a little low. Still, we help a stranger finding him/her in distress at a strange place or help a wounded animal lying on the side of the road with the sense of empathy. This feeling plays a very important role in the creation of an ideal society. This feeling not only helps individuals to understand each other but also helps all people to live respectfully in society.

What is empathy?

Let us take a look at some of the rules of empathetic behaviour.

·        Understand the feelings of others.

·        Be a good listener.

·        Treat others with humility, love and respect.

·        Neither make fun of others nor harass them.

·        Do not insult anyone.

·        Treat others the way you want to be treated.

Dear children, it is said that the face is a mirror of our inner self. The emotions of a person are reflected on his/her face.

Let us try to figure out how many emotions you can recognize by looking at the following faces.

 

Understanding Emotions

 

   

 

Word Box

Happiness, Sadness, Irritability, Love, Faith, Fear, Anger, Surprise, Anxiety

 

     

     

9.2 Children, consider the following situations related to our daily lives and tell what you would do in that situation. (The teacher will form groups in and will give each group a situation.)

 

Sr. No.	Situation	Your Behaviour
1.	When you go to class during the recess, you find your friends making fun of a physically challenged student.
2.	When you go out to play in the street, you find some children disturbing a puppy by repeatedly pulling its tail.
3.	Your team won the quiz held in the school and your friend's team did not get a place.
4.	You demanded a bicycle from your parents as a birthday gift. Today is your birthday but for some reason your parents could not give you that present.

 

Now try to find out by discussing with the teacher in the class how compassionate your chosen behaviour was.

9.3 Dear children, we often treat other people regardless of their feelings and so the other people do. If you want others to treat you well and understand you, then you have to first start with yourself. Let's try to find out through a worksheet how much kind and compassionate you are towards others.

 

Sr. No.	Behaviour	Yes	Sometimes	No
1.	I talk respectfully with my elders.
2.	I apologize without any hesitation for making a mistake.
3.	I appreciate the good deeds of others.
4.	I listen to others seriously.
5.	I thank the other person after receiving an item.
6.	I don't make fun of others
7.	I treat everyone with humility.
8.	I try to understand the side of others.
9.	I do not tease any animal.
10.	I help others finding them in trouble.

 

Score yourself- Yes-03 marks, sometimes -2 marks, No-I mark

Marks obtained: _ (Maximum marks =30, Minimum marks =10)

Your marks reflect your empathetic feelings towards others. A high score represents high compassion and a low score represents low compassion. Considering the qualities and importance of empathy, take a look inside yourself and write down what change would you like to bring in yourself so that your behaviour becomes more empathetic.

HOW CANI BECOME MORE EMPATHETIC TO OTHERS

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9.4 Dear children, there are many aspects of looking at a situation, but often we act on our behalf and do not try to know any other aspect. Let's try to understand it through an activity.

"Manu is not only a brilliant student but also a very mischievous boy. He has some friends who always affirm in his 'yes'. He enjoys teasing other students of the class, especially Raju. Raju is a shy and timid child by nature. He is also a little weak in studies. He is very afraid of Manu because he never misses an opportunity to tease him. Manu often teases him by calling him a rat."

Both Manu and Raju are fond of writing a diary. Keeping yourself in place of Manu or Raju (or both), write down your mental state in the diary according to the above mentioned Scenario.

 

MANU

Dear Diary,

 

RAJU

Dear Diary,

While discussing in class, write down in the blank space given below the changes that Manu and Raju need to bring out in their behaviour.

 

Special suggestions from the teacher to the student