"In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." This is a quote from Anne Frank's diary. In these days of terror and hatred, I wonder if she would still believe this.
Anne Frank had to live in fear for two and a half years before she was finally captured and sent to a concentration camp. In that time, she never stepped foot outside, never talked to her friends, and the only human contact she had with the outside world was from the people who brought her family food. She heard the horror stories of the persecution of the Jewish people throughout Europe, and even knew about the camps. How is it then, that she still held this optimistic hope that people were still good at heart?
I often look at the world we live in today, with all the war, hatred, fighting, and senseless violence, and wonder if people really are good at heart. I read somewhere that it is human nature to fight, that human beings instinctually have something within them that makes them want to hurt their fellow humans. This thought makes me very sad. The last thing I want to do is hurt someone, yet even at our own school, I see people doing just that every day. I watch as young people push, punch, kick, hit and bully their fellow classmates, all in the name of fun. Who is it fun for? Are these people really good at heart? I see our youth growing up in a culture where violence is normal, and often wonder if we have lost the ability to care about others.
On the other hand, I know that people do care, and that maybe Anne was right, and people really are good at heart. I try to talk to my students on a personal level as often as I can, and when I do, I find that they are caring, good people, who just want someone to share that caring and goodness with them. I know that inside everyone there is the ability to show compassion for others. This became very evident for me when I had my own personal tragedy this past month. When my father passed away, my students made a sympathy card for me that I will treasure forever. I don't treasure it because of what it says, but because for me, it represents the goodness inside every person. If only for a few moments, my students were able to put aside all their negative feelings, and show me that "in spite of everything, they were really good at heart." I can never thank them all enough for that.
So, I think Anne Frank was right. There are influences in the world that make people do horrible things to one another, but in spite of it all, they are still good at heart. My hope is that there is no one in the world with an evil heart, and that we all can someday break free of doing cruel things to each other. My hope is that we can all show the goodness in our hearts, and leave behind all the negativity that makes us do things we regret.
Thank you Anne Frank, for continuing to give us hope!
