Do I think it's easier to offend someone nowadays? My answer would be, "Yes." I feel a simple joke can hurt one's sentiment, it can also make someone feel triggered, or it can hurt someone's feelings even though we don't mean it that way. As a result, many people fears to pass a comment and prefer to stay quiet. Well, I believe we all have freedom of speech and we should be free to share our thoughts, but we should also remember a simple lesson my teacher always tells me: "If you can't say something good, then don't say anything at all."

I would like to share a real incident, it happened last year. One of my classmates her name was Jannat, she was giving a presentation in English in-front of the class. She was a shy person and it was her first time. So, she made mistakes in English pronunciation, because it's was not her first language. After that, a few students who were my classmates they were talking about how bad her English was. They mocked the way she spoke and kept laughing about it. When they noticed that I was not laughing with them, they asked me why I was silent.

I said, "It takes a lot of courage to stand in front of the crowd, so I think she was good." After that they stared at me as if I was an alien. In the back of mind, I knew she had made mistakes, but my morals did not allow me to mock her, I knew that if I criticize her now then it wouldn't help her improve. So, there was no point of it.

I believe there is a big difference between criticizing someone and helping them. If I want to help someone to improve then I don't need to say it rudely, I can politely point it out and give them advice for a better way to do it. For an example, I could tell her to practice more often, and speak a little louder next time. This kind of advice is all she needs which means I am offering her a solution. But if I have no idea how to solve her issues or how to give her a useful advice then what is the point of complaining about her mistakes? I truly don't see the point of criticizing her. My words would only make her feel bad without helping her become better.

Have you ever thought about the people who cannot speak because of a disability or a medical condition? I consider ourselves lucky enough to have a voice, we have the privilege to use it. Moreover, it's s a gift that we should never take for granted. So, how can we use our vocals to bring others down? Shouldn't we use them to encourage and help one another? We are not supposed to discourage them. Our voices have the super power to make someone's day, make some wanting to live longer and make them feel confident. So, why should we waste that power on hurtful comments? You never know what someone else is going through. Not everyone is mentally strong so we should behave like a mature person and avoid hurting others.

This does not mean we should never express our opinions. We need to speak up when it's necessary but it should be done using the words wisely. Being honest does not mean being rude. I have seen many people who made rude comments on a celebrity's post or someone's video and when I confronted them for their behavior they replied, "it was a sarcasm." So many people hide behind the word "sarcasm" and they try to bully others on the social media because they think they can't be located.

I had a friend her name was Rosie, she used to pass rude comments to all of her friends except few people. But they never complained or stood against her. She was once rude with me and when I asked why she was being rude. She replied, "I am not being rude, I am being truthful as I don't like to hide anything. I say it on people's face." To be honest, that's the wrong concept she has been following that she has the freedom to say anything and call it being "direct." She just took it as a privilege as no one complained, but I don't tolerate such behaviour's so I had to break our friendship. Because it was one sided, I don't need someone in my life who would try to dominate me.

What I am trying to say is that, we can disagree with people while still being respectful. There's no need to bring down someone. The way you speak and behave says a lot about who you are. In the end, I believe our voices are not taken away by kindness. It's not stopping us from speaking. Just reminding us that our words should lift people up and make the world a little kinder.

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Thanks for reading 🌷