As a high school teacher, empathy is at the center of my engagement with students. Understanding their particular struggles, and co-creating a process for getting through or overcoming specific problems has been my life for more than 20 years.

In the United States, empathy and the practice of empathy have come under attack by many people. An attempt to frame empathy as some kind of weakness represents a fundamental shift in the way we see the world. Claims that empathy is the “fundamental weakness of Western civilization” draw clicks across Social Media, and the reality is that empathy is a core strength of human interactions.

To address this topic, I’m drawing on my years as a teacher, Outdoor Program staff member, coach, and administrator. To open this conversation, I’d have you imagine your child struggling in a class, feeling overwhelmed and behind in work. Without empathy, I, as their teacher, would say something like, “Yea, it’s tough to complete assignments, and that’s your job.” In this scenario, I don’t offer help or support because I don’t see (or want to see) the struggles of another person. Instead of reaching out and supporting this student in the learning process, I ignore and deflect, turning the problem back on the student.

In a classroom or on a school outdoor trip, empathy is essential in educating students. Our role as teachers is to see the student’s need and then address that need with tools and resources we have available for the student. To TEACH requires knowing where a person IS; what they know, and how I can help. It requires empathy – a knowing of the student’s situation.

Empathy extends far beyond a classroom and teaching. With friends, understanding their situation and offering support is the goal of human interaction. When people ask questions like, “What is the meaning of life?” it’s an easy response: to be here to lessen the suffering and struggles of all of us. Empathy serves as the juice that activates these relationships and helps guide us into postive support and outcomes.

Pundits argue that culture has moved too far toward what they term “toxic empathy” or “parasitize empathy.” https://theconversation.com/magas-war-on-empathy-might-not-be-original-but-it-is-dangerous-255300 The idea that empathy is some kind of parasite frames the conversaiton in such a way that any kind of empathy is a drain on social development. Seeing the world from a another person’s perspective, it’s argued, leads us to somekind of “woke” mindset.

Ironically, those same pundits want us to see their side of things, relying on the very empathy that they decry. Without empathy in human society, no one’s thoughts or ideas are valued, as their positionality in society is not deserving of recognition. The goal for anti-empathy advocates is a society strictly divided.

At the same time, the anti-empathy cohort actively seeks out empathy when things in their lives go wrong. Loss of income has led some of these folks to ask for support from the larger community, literally relying on empathy to fuel their financial lives.

This conversation about empathy and its role in human relations is eloquently discussed by former Pope Francis as an engagement with the world and with the lives of every individual. Empathy, mercy, and justice work together as a means of recognizing and dealing with the plight of all people. https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/letters/2025/documents/20250210-lettera-vescovi-usa.html. Pope Francis argued for an expansive and open sense of empathy (and mercy). As he said, “The human person is a subject with dignity who, through the constitutive relationship with all, especially with the poorest, can gradually mature in his identity and vocation. The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the “Good Samaritan” (cf. Lk 10:25-37), that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.” This openness and willingness to meet people where they are and to address the needs of those people is a core principle that we need to embrace.

I argue that empathy makes us truly human as we see within each of us the possibility of joy, happiness, and compassion.