The value of kindness and respect

Kindness and respect are often described as simple values that everyone already understands, yet in real life they are much more complex than saying “please,” “thank you,” or avoiding obviously rude behaviour. They influence how people speak to one another, how they react when someone makes a mistake, how they disagree, how they treat people who have less power, and how they behave when there is no reward for being considerate. Kindness can appear in small actions such as helping a classmate understand an assignment, listening to someone who is upset, returning a lost item, or noticing that another person has been excluded from a group. …