If you are a student in the New Providence School District, you most likely saw question mark posters on the front lawn of your school. Many students were discussing what they thought their significance was, and were asking teachers about them daily. These question marks though were simply used to raise interest for a new program being introduced to the district.
On Tuesday, October 8th, every school in New Providence School District was shown a short student-made video toward the end of the school day. The video introduced the Kindness Counts initiative. The Kindness Counts initiative is a program that promotes the importance of performing random acts of kindness on a daily basis. The creators of the video, one of Mr. Cook’s video design classes, interviewed students from schools all over the district. Students explained how people have helped them, and how they have helped other people.
“People do things everyday that get overlooked,” said Mr. Vivona. Mr. Vivona also created the design for the t-shirts that a majority of the teachers were wearing on October 8th. He believes that it is important to recognize even the smallest acts of kindness. Holding open a door for someone, helping a friend with homework, or lending someone lunch money are just a couple of examples. “I think real kindness is feeling good about yourself without throwing it in the other person’s face,” he added.
There is no need to publicize a random act of kindness. It should come as an instinct for most people, so there is no need to be rewarded for altruism. People should be kind to others, but they should not expect anything in return.
The whole point of this initiative is for us to realize that we are in a position to help others, but should not expect anything in return for being kind. The Kindness Counts initiative is raising awareness of this among students and teachers. So next time you are lending someone a dollar or helping your friend with math homework, remember that you are performing a random act of kindness that does not necessarily need to be returned. If you are nice to others, others will treat you the same way.