Last night I walked into the kitchen to see Kelly reading an article from her laptop to Reyna. Kelly was obviously upset and I asked her what was wrong.The article has been edited since it was first posted.
Kelly didn't know Travis very well but some of her friends did. He had just graduated from high school and was going to the University of Florida on a baseball scholarship. He was also a talented musician and was on the drum line for his high school.
The part that upset Kelly the most were the comments that the readers were leaving. I had tears in my eyes as I read the insensitive comments. It wasn't just one or two, there were several. It was disheartening to see how people can bicker back and forth about typos and misinformation when a child has died. It disgusted me to read the assumptions people made just because the accident involved a teen driver. I was glad to see some of Travis’s friends commented about what really occurred that day. There is no way to tell if Travis would have survived if he had been wearing his seatbelt, but it is very likely.
I hope that the family members of Travis do not read those comments as they are just plain hurtful. These are grown adults who have nothing better to do with their time than dishonor the life of a child. If you are a parent, it's your job to instill a strong sense of compassion in your child. As an adult, you should know how wrong it is to make such comments when a life is taken, any life, no matter what the situation.
I have absolutely no understanding of why people feel they must be rude and hurtful especially to people they don't even know. Maybe someone can explain it to me.
Compassion is the keen awareness of the interdependence of all things. --Thomas Merton
Compassion is the ultimate and most meaningful embodiment of emotional maturity. It is through compassion that a person achieves the highest peak and deepest reach in his or her search for self-fulfillment. --Arthur Jersild
Compassion is not sentiment but is making justice and doing works of mercy. Compassion is not a moral commandment but a flow and overflow of the fullest human and divine energies. --Matthew Fox
The whole purpose of religion is to facilitate love and compassion, patience, tolerance, humility, forgiveness. --H.H. the Dalai Lama
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Unfortunately, so many in the world today are so self-focused that they are unable to put themselves in someone else's position and realize the hurt and harm that their words and actions can cause. As the Bible says, "let each esteem others better than himself," and, "avoid foolish jesting." Thank you for the reminder that we as parents have a responsibility to teach our children what it means to have compassion.
ReplyDeleteChristina, Thank you very much for your comment, that's a beautiful scripture quote. You are welcome for the reminder. <3
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