Honesty and Kindness

The Great Majority of Children are Honest and Kind

We wanted to find out how honest children are so we asked the question, “If you found a wallet with cash and personal effects, what would you do with it?” Over a thousand children this week responded with their thoughts and the results are shown in the pie chart opposite.

The green areas show us that over 75% would return the wallet and cash to its owner and most of them wouldn’t expect a reward. But, the red and pink areas indicate that nearly 10% of children would NOT return the wallet intact to its owner.

Let’s take a minute of two to ponder the benefits of being honest during which I promise not to preach to you!

CHILDREN'S ONLINE SURVEYS

What Famous People Have Said

Whatever you are studying, it is always useful to know what other people have said about the subject so here are a few things to think about.

Thomas Jefferson (President of the United States from 1801 to 1809) said, "Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom".

William Wordsworth (1770 to 1850) said, "That best portion of a man’s life, his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love".

Coming closer to our time, Brooke Shields (American actress and model) said, "Honesty is the quality I value most in a friend".

And right up to date, Lady Gaga (you know who she is!) said, "I have been searching for ways to heal myself and I’ve found that kindness is the best way".

International Kindness Day

You didn’t know there WAS an International Kindness Day? Unfortunately, you have just missed it for this year – it was on the 13th November. Don’t worry, we missed it too but we are definitely going to remember it for next year. There is even a Kindness Day UK that you can read all about on Wikipedia.

Action for Happiness

Time and time again it has been proven that thoughtful, kind people have a happier life than uncaring, selfish people. Happiness it seems doesn’t come from having plenty of worldly goods but instead it comes from being comfortable with who you are and the way you act towards other people.

It is only recently that people have started to truly understand that “money can’t buy you happiness” and that you can do numerous things to make you happy that cost absolutely nothing. It is this realisation that led to the formation of the organisation called “Action for Happiness”. Their patron is The Dalai Lama and suggestions for leading a happier life include the following 6 things:

1. Do something helpful for a friend or family member
2. Visit an elderly person who is alone
3. Smile at people you meet
4. Give someone your place in a queue in the supermarket
5. Leave a positive message for someone else to find
6. Thank your parents for all the sacrifices they make for you

All of the above will help make someone else happy but equally important you will find that they all make YOU happier. Honesty and kindness usually cost nothing. Try it and see!

You can read more about Action for Happiness on their website or you can follow them on Twitter.

Survey Results

The survey question this week was “If you found a wallet with cash and personal effects, what would you do?” Here are the results:

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