What is the first thought that appears in your mind when you hear mention of the phrase "high school?" The typical football player, his unforgiving face plastered permanently with that menical smirk, shoving some pitiful looking loner harshly into a locker? Or maybe you recall how many times you emptied your wallet for clothes that your peers dictated that you must own in order to fit in. How is it that these stereotypical, but so often true, situations and memories came to be? Why is it that the majority of us would never relive any of the four years of high school we went through, even for a million dollars? At what point during the history of high school did teenagers develop such an atrocious reputation?
Most importantly, what I want to know is: Why must teens be so cruel to one another when high school and the world's circumstances in general are hard enough to deal with? In what is arguably the most difficult transitioning period of time in our lives, why must we make it harder for each other?
Society has always traveled astray from learning about and recognizing the differences in every person's individuality. Nobody likes the unknown or the unsafe. But our differences are only unknown and unsafe to us if we choose to ignore them. The popular "ignorance is bliss" belief is the mother of human separation and the development of cliques. Although in today's times we are taught to have respect and tolerance for other cultures and religions, why still has no one taught us to apply those things towards peoples' indivuality in general?
I can remember being twelve years old in seventh grade; I wore a lot of black and a lot of band t-shirts. Music has always been my life, and it was the only thing that could make me feel understood and worth something. Being that young, I was a long time unaware that I didn't fit in. It wasn't until my peers began to rudely point me out to their friends and followers in the hallways that I began to really understand that I was different from the majority.
My first reaction to the ridicule was negative. I remember feeling rather melancholy and wanting to change to rid of the cruelty of my peers. However, I knew that I was incapable of being like everyone else. When I hit high school and my teen years, that's when I really began to feel confident in the fact that because I didn't claim or try to be anyone but my own self, that I was going to go very far in life.
Now I have reached my senior year in high school and have worked very hard to make the best life for myself that I can. I will be graduating a whole semester early, and will then be entering cosmetology school to learn to utilize the raw skills that I possess to then help people feel beautiful for just being themselves. I also intend to help people understand that your own personal individuality is one of the most important qualities a person possesses.
Now, whether you choose to let your peers dictate your actions and accessories is up to you. The best thing we can do as of now is to start teaching our children that we need to respect and attempt to understand every human being as an individual and not just stick to what we know. Cruelty in teenagers, I believe, is decreasing, but the only way to eradicate it is to inform. It is up to today's generation of teens to educate their peers and their future children to question everything and to understand...not to hide behind ignorance.
To change the outlook on teenagers we, as today's teens, must act for ourselves. We must break out of the shell of stereotypes. Don't be afraid to be different. And never, ever be just another stupid cruel teenager.
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