"K" is for Kind

"I often worry the world is an unkind place for my child."

Survey says: 70% of parents and 86% of teachers often worry about this.

That's the result of a survey done by Sesame Workshop. I am not sure whether this falls under the category of "shocking" or "no-brainer." (I read this in USA Today while in the airport, and I'm reminded of the famous survey headline decades ago in that paper: "Men, women: We're still different.")

After the appalling presidential campaign of 2016, in which voters in key states (note: not "the majority of voters") decided it was perfectly acceptable -- laudable, in fact -- to elect a president who said some absolutely unkind things, is it any wonder that we worry about raising our children in a world that lacks basic kindness?

To quote from the Workshop:

We chose to shine the spotlight on kindness because we have noticed an increasing number of news stories on anger, fear, bullying, and violence, as well as an overall sense of negativity permeating social discourse. We read research indicating that narcissism is on the rise, empathy is on the decline ...

Anyone who's surprised, please raise your hands.

I'm not saying that all disagreement is bad, and I'm not unaware that the history of political discourse is replete with examples of boorish (or worse) behavior and expression. And, yes, when it comes to setting a poor example for our next generations, you simply cannot excuse the Commander in Chief lying about engaging in sex with an intern.

But it's not too outlandish to wonder whether we've crossed some new threshold here when it comes to modeling acceptable speech and action. Teachers I have spoken with say they've noticed an increase in student behavior that once would have provokes outrage. Now, it simply inspires chagrin.