By Hancock Healthy Times reporters | Empathy is something students at Hancock practice daily, School Nurse Mrs. Schunder said.

She shared an example of empathy that she recently witnessed. Two students walked out of the lunchroom, and one was visibly upset. In a kind voice, the other student asked, “What happened?”

According to Merriam-Webster.com, empathy is the “feeling that you understand and share another person’s experiences.”

Remember a time when you have felt lonely, sad, excited, or happy. Think about what your body looked like and was doing when you had that feeling. How did your face look? What were your hands doing? This self- examination is something you can do to practice empathy, according to a Brain Pop Jr. video. 

Mrs. Schunder said “empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes to try and understand how they feel.” Showing empathy can help others not feel alone in what they are going through.

Mrs. Schunder said people should try looking at things from the other person’s point of view, not just their side. It makes it less likely that they will hurt someone else if they think about how others might feel.

The Making Caring Common Project at Harvard University shared that empathy can “reduce bullying, increase academic success, build communication skills, and improve life outcomes.” It takes an entire school to build empathy.

Healthy Times reporters wrote about how they try to be empathetic. Following are a few of their reflections. 

I can be aware of my own feelings by paying attention to myself when I am happy, sad, angry, or mad. Being aware of my own feelings helps me understand others by knowing that how they look is how I look when I am happy, sad, mad, or excited. I can show empathy when someone is hurt by asking if they are okay. I can help someone when they fall. —Fern

When I pay attention to my body and my actions, I can understand someone else because I can recognize how they’re feeling. —Iona

I show empathy by giving the same respect I would want and by feeling what others feel. —Bintou

I show empathy by listening to someone while they are talking. —Charles

Being aware of my own feelings helps me understand others by putting myself in their place and thinking about what I would have liked. —Lismary

Illustration by Lismary, fourth grade, Hancock E.S., 2023–24.