2007 — Sixth Grade Third Place

Annamarie Rutledge, Minnesota.

What does compassion mean to you?

Violence or Compassion: Which one has a greater impact on society?

One the Streets. In Schools. One the news. Even in video/computer games. Almost everywhere you go, violence is happening. It might not be physical, but verbal or emotional. The majority of the United States does not like violence. Yet, it’s all people remember. It's all you hear on the news. If you looked down the hall at school, you would see more physical and verbal violence than acts of compassion. People might think there is more compassion, but it’s unnoticeable. Violence isn’t all about people fighting. It also has animals and nature involved, like animal abuse and cruelty. Face it, compassion may impact the society, but violence does much more

So much anger is building up in the world and it either comes out in our actions or works which makes them mad also and then it just goes on and on and spreads around. Someone could be really compassionate but have it be ruined by insults or physical contact. I don't think that a compassionate person can always turn violence around. It’s like saying "Hey, sorry I shot you. Can we be friends?" You most likely wouldn't ever trust that person again after, so why would compassion win you over? Violence usually always has consequences, and compassion has rewards, but that are usually not visible. It may be bad, but it's the thing that gets people talking. If they heard something compassionate on the news, they wouldn’t go around saying it as school or debating about it.

Why is it that kids love movies, computer games, and video games that all contain things to do with violence, but hardly ever compassion? Or if they do have compassion, not that many people play or watch the games or movies. Nearly 25% of American women have been raped and/or physically assaulted. 30% of Americans say they know a woman who has been physically abused by her husband pr boyfriend in the past year. When all this violence shouldn’t be going on, and a lot of people are against it, it still has a greater percent numbers. As for animal violence, over 70 million animals a year are being tortured and killed in US laboratories. Up to 50,000 greyhounds die in dog races.

I admit that compassion is or can very powerful. But, it wouldn't male you jump out of your chair if you heard something compassionate in the news. You would probably just think "Oh that's nice", or something like that. Violence grabs peoples attention. If you gave people a choice of knowing a violent/bad thing that just happened, or the compassionate thing, they would probably rather hear the act of violence. They want to be aware and know about the violent things that are happening in the world because it could affect them, people they care about, or their country. Because of violence, it’s the thing that can change laws. A far as I know, compassion never has. Compassion is powerful, but Violence is greater.

So, my argument leads up to my point that violence is greater and more noticeable. I stand by my evidence and opinions. Violence impacts the society more than compassion

 

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