Students who develop this skill may be more successful in life

Humans experience a range of colourful emotions, and a lack of empathy from our peers can exacerbate feelings of loneliness, negatively affecting our mental health. This makes empathy a crucial life skill to develop, including students for their overall well-being and development, in addition to helping them cope with life’s challenges.  Empathy can be described as “the experience of understanding another person’s thoughts, feelings, and condition from his or her point of view, rather than from one’s own. Empathy facilitates prosocial or helping behaviours that come from within, rather than being forced, so that people behave in a more compassionate manner.”However, at a time when children are spending more time on the internet and social media, issues such as doxing and cyberbullying are growing rampant while mental health problems among adolescents are on the rise. But does a lack of empathy among today’s youth have a role to play in this, and could injecting empathy into school lessons improve the general well-being of students?