I don't immediately take offense to hearing about things that don't apply to me, and maybe hearing about things that my classmates or their parents or whomever

I don't immediately take offense to hearing about things that don't apply to me, and maybe hearing about things that my classmates or their parents or whomever is going through might help me get a better understanding of them and their lives. The use of the word "force" here is especially interesting. I doubt you'd use the same word for a subject like Math or English, despite it being the same degree of "force".