Three Small Steps that Could Change the World
This post is related to: One Thing the World Needs More Of: Compassion. Both subjects started out as journal prompts, and I had an easy answer for both. Three words immediately popped into my head: education, compassion and tolerance. These three things are needed more than ever in the world today. These three "small" steps are more important than ever, and could easily change the world considering the amount of hate and crime in the world in recent years, and more recently with the backlash to President Trump's election in the U.S. and his subsequent inauguration and executive orders.
In recent history (the last ~30 years), the more highly educated someone is, the more likely they'll be liberal. Neil Gross, a sociology professor at Colby College is quoted as saying in an NPR article that "There's some pretty good evidence that going to college leads people to have more liberal attitudes on social issues, in particular on issues of tolerance, of difference and issues of gender equity," which in turn means that they have a tendency to be more compassionate towards those who are less fortunate than themselves.
If all three of these are practiced on an individual scale, then they are small steps. If they are practiced hand in hand, then they become much bigger and have a greater impact on the world. We can all work together to educate ourselves and each other, be tolerant, compassionate and recognize that education works much better than belittling others. Education leads to better understanding, which leads to tolerance and compassion, especially if we educate girls. It's been proven on numerous occasions that educating girls is beneficial to society. In Lauren Stepp's article on The Borgen Project's site called Top 10 Reasons Why Female Education is Important, she sites that according to the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI), educated mothers are twice as likely to have children survive past the age of five. This in turn increases the likelihood of them getting an education themselves, become literate, and having a positive effect on society.
Are you passionate about educating others and spreading compassion and tolerance? Find out how you can help in educating young girls and women by visiting the organizations below, which are only a sampling of the many organizations available.
In recent history (the last ~30 years), the more highly educated someone is, the more likely they'll be liberal. Neil Gross, a sociology professor at Colby College is quoted as saying in an NPR article that "There's some pretty good evidence that going to college leads people to have more liberal attitudes on social issues, in particular on issues of tolerance, of difference and issues of gender equity," which in turn means that they have a tendency to be more compassionate towards those who are less fortunate than themselves.
If all three of these are practiced on an individual scale, then they are small steps. If they are practiced hand in hand, then they become much bigger and have a greater impact on the world. We can all work together to educate ourselves and each other, be tolerant, compassionate and recognize that education works much better than belittling others. Education leads to better understanding, which leads to tolerance and compassion, especially if we educate girls. It's been proven on numerous occasions that educating girls is beneficial to society. In Lauren Stepp's article on The Borgen Project's site called Top 10 Reasons Why Female Education is Important, she sites that according to the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI), educated mothers are twice as likely to have children survive past the age of five. This in turn increases the likelihood of them getting an education themselves, become literate, and having a positive effect on society.
Are you passionate about educating others and spreading compassion and tolerance? Find out how you can help in educating young girls and women by visiting the organizations below, which are only a sampling of the many organizations available.
