Topic 14 乐于帮助他人的人

1. Should schools and parents teach children to help others?
Yes, absolutely. Schools and parents should teach children to help others. If they learn to help others,they can develop better personalities. They’re more likely to be kind and generous in the future. That makes them more attractive for friends and significant others. So helping others is definitely a valuable life skill117.

2. How should parents and schools teach children to help others?
Parents can teach children to help others by setting a good example118 for them. For example, if a parent sees someone in need119, they can help them out. If their child has siblings, parents can also encourage their children to help their brother or sister out. As for schools, I think they can let children do more group activities. When they work together, they’ll learn to help each other as well.

3. Why are children nowadays less likely to help others?
I guess it’s because nowadays, people think more about themselves than they do about others. Children notice those things, and they start to model selfish behaviours120. Sometimes, children are even taught to put themselves before anyone else121. So they don’t think they need to help anyone else. It’s sad,though. I hope that future generations learn to be kinder.

4. In what kinds of professions do people help others more?
It seems to me that people help others more in jobs that involve protecting people. For example, police officers help and protect society by catching criminals and making sure everyone is safe. Plus, jobs in healthcare also involve helping people a lot. For example, doctors and nurses help others by curing their illnesses and treating their injuries122. We definitely can’t live without these kinds of workers.

5. How can children help others?
One way is spending time with each other. When their friends are lonely or upset, they can just simply offer companionship123. They can also be generous by sharing their toys or even their clothes with kids in poor areas. Besides, at home, children can also help their parents do chores124. Sometimes it’s not about how they can help, it’s all about their attitude. I believe parents would be very happy seeing their children help out at home.

117 a valuable life skill: 宝贵的生活技能
118 setting a good example：做个好榜样
119 someone in need: 有需要帮助的人
120 model selfish behaviours: 模仿去做一些很自私的事情
121 put themselves before anyone else：把自己放在别人前面
122 curing their illnesses and treating their injuries: 治疗疾病和创伤
123 companionship：陪伴
124 do chores：做家务