Make A Difference

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

~ Edmund Burke (Attributed)

Walk On By

Lyrics Sara Westbrook

Music Troy Bynoe

Look at that boy

He’s crouched in the corner

No one sees him

He’s invisible

He bows his head down

Forehead to his knees

And a tear rolls down his cheek

Chorus

And we walk on by

B/c we have our own issues

We only have the time

To stop and stare

What if they could use my help

But I don’t wanna get involved

Besides I’m already running behind

She’d got sad eyes

As you look into them

All that you can find

Is emptiness

Maybe you could give her

Some company

A laugh and comfort is all she desires

Wouldn’t you like to be the one who helped change her life

It isn’t that much to ask of you

Chorus

Bridge

Aren’t we here to make a difference?

Aren’t we here to share our love?

Aren’t we here to help each other out

Isn’t that what life’s about?

Chorus

We are so intense about our own life

And we are so caught up in our own life

So don’t walk on by

We all have our own issues

But we have the time

To stop and help

They can use your time

If you just get involved

Besides, that is what we are here to do!

“Make a Difference” Student Writing Activity

Students listened to several songs ( “Mr. Funny Face” - Sprung Monkey / “Concrete Angel” - Martina McBride / “Walk On By” - Sara Westbrook / “How To Save A Life - The Fray / “If Everyone Cared” - Nickelback) and studied a series of historic quotes/ literary excerpts (displayed on this page) regarding the importance of empathy and social responsibility.

Students were then challenged to write an original mission statement, lyric, poem or slogan that will inspire and motivate people to make a difference in the lives of others whenever possible.

Don’t just sit around going with the flow

Do something about it, don’t just stop and stare

Be different and you will create a path for others

Making Friends

Friendship

Sharing

Caring

Giving

Helping Others

~ * ~

Don’t Ever Say

You DON”T

Have

Time!

People Out In

The World

Need Your

Help...

So Why

Don’t You

Reach A Hand Out?

If you are a bystander who has the chance to

help, try to help and you tried even if you failed.

But if you don’t and walk on by, the same thing

you did to them is what you will get in return.

~ * ~

When you are down someone will help you up

So when you see someone down help them,

Just as if you were the one on the ground

* ~ *

If everyone cared

We could save a life

One chance, one change

Just don’t look them in the eye

And watch them cry

Do something about it

Give them hope give them love

Just help them survive

The depression behind their face

Hides behind their smile

They act, they say nothing really has happened

But they know, they don’t want to say

Only their reactions to a good deed

Brings a smile brings them hope

Brings them happiness

Just don’t stand by and watch them cry

I Sit and Look Out

I SIT and look out upon all the sorrows of the world, and upon all oppression and shame;
I hear secret convulsive sobs from young men at anguish with themselves, remorseful after deeds done;
I see in low life the mother misused by her children, dying, neglected, gaunt, desperate;
I see the wife misused by her husband - I see the treacherous seducer of young women;
I mark the ranklings of jealousy and unrequited love attempted to be hid - I see these sights on the earth;
I see the workings of battle, pestilence, tyranny - I see martyrs and prisoners;
I observe a famine at sea - I observe the sailors casting lots who shall be kill'd to preserve the lives of the rest;
I observe the slights and degradations cast by arrogant persons upon laborers, the poor, and upon negroes, and the like;
All these - All the meanness and agony without end, I sitting, look out upon,

See, hear, and am silent.

Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892). Leaves of Grass. 1900.

Life is too short to sit around and watch things happen

So get involved and make a difference

* ~ *

If you were to treat people the way you would like to be treated

Everything would change and everything would be better

* ~ *

Not everyone is the same

We all have different features

Some get treated better than others

If someone gets treated badly

You can do something about it

Say “Stop, that isn’t right”

Don’t just stand around

Help those who aren’t the same

Who get treated badly

http://www.toddparr.com/books/

~ * ~

Don’t be a bystander in life, help people open up

They need your help. So jump on it.

~ * ~

If you could save a life, you would

If you could help someone bake a cake, you would

If you didn’t, would you be helped back up?

Help people, it’s the right thing.

* ~ *

Help people

Don’t stand by

Come on people be the good guys

Tell people to stop when they have done wrong

Don’t just keep walking along

If you don’t want to help switch the song

The powers inside you

You say something and I’ll stand beside you

Don’t be quiet, say “stop” in a strong voice

Help people, it’s your choice!

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out -

because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out -

because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -

because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me.

~ United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

If everyone cared

we would listen and share

our feelings would be out in the open

* ~ *

Don’t be afraid to stand up and

Let the bully know they are doing something wrong

~ * ~

If everyone cared about each other the world wouldn’t be full of hate

Don’t stand around and be invisible.

Stand up and show that the world can be better

Everyone is capable of doing good. They just gotta show it.

What would happen if no one cared?

The world would be a mess

The people would fight all the time!

How about changing the way people care?

And lets all get along

When people cry, walk up to them

And see what’s wrong

Then tell them you do care

About them and other people

So the world can all get along!

~ * ~

Don’t just stand and watch

tell someone or

break it up!

~ * ~

If everyone cared the world would be perfect, but its not!

Helping one person doesn’t effect the world

But it does effect one person in...the world

Legend of the Starfish

A vacationing businessman was walking along a beach when he saw a young boy. Along the shore were many starfish that had been washed up by the tide and were sure to die before the tide returned. The boy was walking slowly along the sore and occasionally reached down and tossed a beached starfish back into the ocean. The businessman, hoping to teach the boy a little lesson in common sense, walked up to the boy and said, "I have been watching what you are doing, son. You have a good heart, and I know you mean well, but do you realize how many beaches there are around here and how many starfish are dying on every beach every day? Surely, such an industrious and kindhearted boy such as yourself could find something better to do with your time. Do you really think that what you are doing is going to make a difference?" The boy looked up at that man, and then he looked down at a starfish by his feet. He picked up the starfish, and as he gently tossed it back into the ocean, he said, "It makes a difference to that one."

Not everyone is mistreated

So say something

Nobody is holding you back

~ * ~

The world would be a better place, if everyone cared

If people stopped only caring about themselves

And started thinking about other people

The world would be a better place for everyone

* ~ *

When you see someone down, help them up

When you someone mad, make them happy

When you see someone sad, cheer them up

If you don’t realize what you are doing

Then wait to see someone helping another or someone helping you

Then you will realize what it means to help someone

* ~ *

If you have a problem

You just need to try to let it go.

Talk to someone about your problem

And have faith that if you lost a friend

Or saw someone in need

That you will get a new friend

Or help people in need

Next time you see someone in need

Let them express their feelings

And just listen to them.

Sometimes that is all you can do

Some people have no one to go to talk to about what’s bothering them.

Why don’t you try and be that person and help them?

It just takes one friend

To make a world of difference

~ * ~

You could sing that you’re alive

But you could also help the ones that are dying inside

~ * ~

All it takes is one

One person can make a difference

One doctor, one teacher, one parent, one mentor

Or just one friend

Empathy

Positive

I understand

Your soul spirals down,

along with your smile

right to the core

The glow went out,

but don’t give up

Rekindle it

Be positive, think positive

It’s no secret

Try, try, succeed

You can do it

I’m here to help,

just like your angel

I’m no bystander

Come to me, cry on my shoulder

Until you’re ready to say goodbye

Trust me,

Negative doesn’t want to stick around

Positive,

there’s that glow,

there’s that comfort

Positive, I see your smile

"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why...

I dream of things that never were and ask why not."

~ Robert F. Kennedy ( 1925 –1968 )