Mr. Smith, a high school philosophy teacher, told his students that his curriculum required that he conduct an experiment by removing a goldfish from its bowl that he brought to the classroom.

“Today, we are going to see something die, something that despite no chance of survival, its body will still struggle to live,” he said. “Survival is the strongest force that all living things have within them. Death is the greatest fear. I want you to observe the fish closely and put yourself inside its little brain and take detailed notes about what the will to live might feel like when there is no chance to stay alive.”

Mr. Smith scooped up the goldfish and placed it down on his desk. The students took notes as they watched it flop around with its little gills opening in a frantic attempt to save its life.

“Are you going to just let it die?” shouted a student. Suddenly, a girl in the second row jumped up and hurried to the desk. She grabbed the goldfish and dropped it back into his bowl of water. She quickly returned to her seat.

The rest of the students stared at their teacher waiting for him to respond. He looked out at the room and leaned over his desk with his eyes upon the girl.

“Ms. Amy Banks,” he said. “You defied my authority and disturbed the experiment. You risked getting in trouble to save a goldfish. Why did you do that?”

“Watching something die is stupid,” she said. “Nobody asked the fish if he wanted to be part of your experiment.”

A few of the students chuckled at her remark.

“And for your decision to save the fish,” said the teacher, “I applaud your courage. You have demonstrated a valuable human quality. You have the ability to feel empathy for another living thing. It’s only a goldfish, one might say, but it was struggling to stay alive until you saved it from dying.”

The teacher explained that there are times when probable consequences prevent us from being empathetic. He said that in the book, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain, a young boy named Huck meets up with a runaway slave and wants to tell the authorities.

“I have to do the right thing and turn you in,” Huck says to Jim. “Jim looks at Huck and says, ‘Sometimes, just because everyone thinks something is the right thing to do, doesn’t make it the right thing to do.’ ”

“Because all of you but one did not want to defy authority, you were going to let the fish die,” said Mr. Smith, “and that’s why Huck wanted to turn Jim in — for his respect for authority. But once he began to feel empathy about Jim’s life as a slave, Huck defies authority to help Jim become a free man.”

A student in the back of the room raised his hand.

“What if Amy didn’t decide to save the fish and neither did anyone else?”

“Then I’d be having an entirely different response,” said Mr. Smith. “Here’s another example with people instead of a fish. If someone’s car breaks down on the road, and the person is waving you down for help as you are about to drive by, would you stop to help or keep going?”

“I’d probably drive on by,” one student said. “You just don’t know nowadays. It could be a set up to rob or kidnap somebody or they might even have a gun.”

“And that would be the safe thing to do,” said the teacher. “But how many of you would risk the possible consequences and stop to help the motorist?”

A few hands were raised. He chose a boy in the first row.

“I think it’s morally the right thing to help somebody in need,” he said. “I mean, wouldn’t we want someone to help us if we were in that situation? I know we have cellphones to call for help, but what if somebody breaks down and there’s an urgency to get help right away? Maybe the driver has an emergency to get somewhere quickly. Maybe somebody is sick.”

Another student replied: “Then let somebody else help. What if I come to the scene, but I have an emergency to be somewhere or I decide I’m not putting my life at risk just because somebody’s car breaks down.”

“So, let me ask all of you,” said the teacher, “should we feel empathy and help someone only if it’s convenient for us? If there is a risk of any kind or even possible danger, should we turn our heads away?”

Another hand was raised.

“Mr. Smith” said the student. “If Amy didn’t save the goldfish, would you have let it to die on your desk for the sake of an experiment?”

Mr. Smith laughed. “Of course not. This is Goldy, my 6-year-old daughter’s fish. I asked her permission to bring Goldy to school today to show all of you her pet. If I let Goldy die, I could never go home again.”

“Just buy her another goldfish,” said a boy in the third row. Mr. Smith grinned at the remark.

“Here’s another lesson to learn today. Six-year-olds know their pets just like you know yours, if you have any. They know their exact colors and behaviors. My daughter knows Goldy and she would know if I brought home a replacement.”

“So, Mr. Smith,” asked a student from the back of the room, “what would you want us to do when it comes to helping somebody we don’t know?”

“Let me read this quote from an author named Leo Buscaglia,” replied the teacher. “ ‘Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

“We don’t know what struggles others are living with,” said Mr. Smith. “The right thing to do is what your conscience tells you to do, but in this world today where there is a great disconnect of one person to another, to feel empathy for another human being would go a long way to bring us all together and to help build stronger communities.”

Email Rich Strack at richiesadie11@gmail.com