Why is the human race so cruel to its member? Why at school does one kid make fun of the other? So what if someone is different? Why do some people make it their personal mission to ostracize a certain person simply because that person is distinctive from the masses? We as a people are capable of immense love, and feats of selfless sacrifice, yet we are also capable of such hate and brutality. How can this bizarre dichotomy exist? I am afraid there are more questions then answers. Perhaps it is due to the fact that I find it difficult to admit that I am one of these people, although not as much as most. In fact, probably everyone at some point has thought ill of someone who looked or acted strange. Therefore I perhaps can infer various answers.
First, it helps to identify the issue, by creating a scenario to explain our situation.
You are walking down the hall way with your brand new outfit. You are quite proud of it, you decided to try something new this time, and you think you made a good choice. Your attire is composed of long white bell bottoms, with a polyester cotton shirt, and a necklace with the peace sign. You are feeling immensely proud of your latest attire. This outfit you feel fits you, and even though it isn’t what everyone else is wearing you like it. You are showing your individuality. You pass a group of laughing kids in the hall and say “hi” to them, as friendly as possible. However all you get in return are dirty looks. You wonder why… Next, a group of people come up, and start taunting you, for no apparent reason. You didn’t do anything to them, and in fact you have never even met them, so why are they picking on you?
“Hey fag nice outfit did you get that in the sixties? Says one
“Yeah, how about you go back there and stay!” says another
“Freak!” says the last
After their comments you are feeling isolated from everyone else. They have singled you out, and made you a laughing stock. As a result of their taunting you now hang that outfit in your closet, and acquire the “popular” clothing they wear, and act just like them. They have stomped out your individuality, and made clones of themselves. You act just like them, and now you become the one who teases the people whose only crime is harboring the horrendous sin of being themselves. Simply so you fit in and be accepted.
Regrettably this affliction that is plaguing our society is all too familiar. The most distressing thing is people are not born like this, but society conditions people to despise others who have the courage to be who they truly are. Look at the little children. Do they have prejudices? No. They are the true innocents. Then they attend the academy of conformity, (school), so their behavior can come to resemble assembly line products, and their attitudes are warped into being mindless automatons, which is similar to a computer program. Conditioned responses are elicited when a given stimulus is encountered. The outcome is always the same; because they haven’t been taught to think for themselves. Perhaps the responsible parties may be vindicated, due to the fact that they don’t realize what they are doing. It is not really the teachers fault or the students, but the essential structure of school. The fundamental flaw is actually in the “educational” technique. The big ugly word that I hate is conformity, and school harbors this like a virus. What to wear, what to say, what we can do. Seating charts. Worksheets all the same, answers are card-board cut outs. In the broadest aspects school stomps out our individuality early, and fails to teach us about ourselves. We all learn at the same pace and way, at school, and there really isn’t any room for us each to grow individually. I don’t think school teaches us knowledge. True knowledge isn’t the memorization of a mass of facts. For then what are we but vast storage banks of information. Like a computer. How smart is your computer? Pretty stupid I would say. School needs to teach us to be ourselves, so that we can branch off and see in perspective. Children really don’t understand what they are being taught. They are just being taught what to do and say in a given situation, instead of being able to think of all the factors, and thereby making a determination of all solutions, and outcomes. They simply say A=B, and thinks that is the one and only solution. Well maybe many things equal B not just A. However, children are taught how to think, and they don’t realize the nature of what A=B actually means only that it does. It is a flawed way of thinking from the start. Consequently, they can’t function correctly in society. These ideas of only one way to do something, is terrible. Closed-mindedness is a major hindrance to our continued self-actualization. What a horrible injustice we are doing to the whole human race!
Not only is the socialization of young people to blame, but conceivably also is our negligence to reinforce children’s self-esteem. After all if you have high self-esteem you wont feel as much of a need to be a replica, and will be able to think for yourself, and not what your “friends” and school tells you to think. It’s obviously that humans don’t know everything, and perhaps we really know nothing, but simply assume we do. The quintessence reality we are conveying to kids is that our way is the only way, and everything else is incorrect. However kids with enough self-esteem and an inquisitive mind can see beyond the veil of deception to authentic reality, and therefore finally being able to think for themselves.
In the long run the bullies are the ones who like structure, rules, and have low self esteem. The rebels are the ones who are able to make their own version of reality tailored to their unique identity. However, the rebels are labeled the evil party, simply because they are diverse. The docile sheep types who never say anything are labeled the superior ones. They just want to stay out of it, but they haven’t developed to the potential of the rebels. Obviously we are not talking about the stereotypical rebels. The rebels we are concerned about are not violent, and don’t break rules for fun. These rebels go against the grain. They perhaps are the Goths, hippies, or whatever. Whatever label we give them. They are not doing anything wrong. They simply advocate using your brain to discover the actual nature of reality, instead of the cookie cutter version they are force-fed by the world. We could do well do learn from the rebels.
So what is my solution to this horrible injustice that is bogging down our society? Well, I have surmised that an acceptable course of action would be to attack this beast at its source: our teaching methods. Perchance, you have heard of the legend of the multi headed hydra. When the brave hero in our tale chopped off the hydra’s head; two sprouted in its place, then four, then eight, etc. However, when the brave adventurer attacked the root of the problem, and plunged his sword deep into the hydra’s abdomen, it flopped over and died. And the moral of the story is: treating the symptoms of a problem only escalates our crisis. The only way to alleviate an ailment is to assault it at its core. The most effective method, which is readily apparent to me, is to revamp the whole organization and social structure of our educational system.
We need to convey though school, that it is ok to be different, and transmit practical knowledge to children. By giving them hands on experience, so that they may create new, and unique ways to accomplish a wide array of tasks. Sadly, this point is usually ignored, largely due to the fact that it’s difficult, and impractical to teach like this. We have made school like the rest of our society; assembly line work. Always the same, and yes the method may work to some extent, but by merely teaching in this fashion, we are stomping out kids individuality. Ever heard the line: they don’t make things like they used to? Well in the “olden days” items were made by hand, and tender loving care was put into their work. That’s how they made their livings, and it had to be good or there was no food on the table. They enjoyed what they did, unlike the bulk of assembly line workers. This kind of work alienates the employees, and takes away their self-worth. School is doing the same to its kids. Children don’t learn true knowledge its all just memorization. We need to actually take them out, and show how things work, and not just make them memorize “stuff” for the test, then forget it.
My mom was once inspired by her science teacher, Mr. Swanson. The reason was his teaching methods were different. There are always a few teachers who are dedicated enough to actually provide comprehension of the topics covered and life experiences, that one can actually apply to their existence. He used to take the kids outside, and actually show them the different bugs, plants, trees, etc. The kids could see, and touch them, and ask questions. He provided hands on experience. This kind of teaching is usually unparallel in its potential for understanding the whole issue. They actually understood what the bugs and everything else did, and how they fit into the bigger picture. That has probably stayed with my mother more then most other things learned in school.
By no means is this the solitary problem that faces our race, and this is simply a small start, but it can cause an immense alteration in the way people view humanity. Hopefully, it can inspire kids to accept the different identity of people, and will create people who don’t harbor such prejudices, and people who are able to accept all views; even ones that are not their cookie cutter version of reality. They will appreciate that there isn’t only one way to accomplish something, but multiple. One day we may all appreciate the myriad of everyone’s different outlooks. When we understand each other and accept everyone as our brother instead of our enemy we will become a happier society. When that day comes to pass it will be a dawning of a new age in the maturation of our race. However, change doesn’t take place overnight and there is a lot of work to be done. As a wise-man once said; “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
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