Entry I: Prologue
I have begun to notice–as I’m nearing the end of my 8th grade year–that everyone around me will eventually be adults. They will have families, jobs, roles in society that keep our world running. I judge them now for being annoying, rude, and immature but in the near future I wish that one day I may meet them again and see how the world has changed them.
Some days I wish I could go back to sitting on the rug for storytime. Instead of having to read the three hundred pages of required reading in a week, I can watch as the teacher cracks open a picture book with simplistic illustrations that allow my mind to roam. But it can never really be that simple. We’ll grow up, and may be giving our children the talk about how people–after a certain age–suddenly feel the need to separate and sort unsortable things. Unsortable things being people, thoughts, and actions. They may have to explain to their children why hatred is so often excused as opinion, or why someone at school is calling them names and attacking them due to their skin color or behavior. They may have to find some excuse as to why so many things in this world are harmful, or may have to make up a reason as to the reason the universe was created in the first place.
Entry II: Sorting and Separating
In our world, we sort things into two umbrellas: Good, and bad. Way back when, we didn’t have this “sorting” technique fully worked out–as bigotry blocked many people’s gaze. I wouldn’t say we’ve grown out of this, it just mutated into a new form of bigotry that was more socially acceptable. Like how a virus or germ would.
After gaining our freedom from the British, we sorted Great Britain into the “bad” category and our new America into the “good” category. Obviously the “America good” thing didn’t work out for very long, as we proceeded to separate our own country due to disputes over slavery. Which then meant “Union good”, “Confederacy bad.” But in their eyes the roles would be flipped, which then meant the sorting of “good” and “bad” is entirely a biased decision depending on which part of the United States you were in. We frame Abraham Lincoln as the “good guy” in the Civil War, which makes sense when you think about how many slaves he freed, but then you have to think about what his intentions were at the start of the Civil War. Lincoln had no intention to end slavery, and only signed the law because of pressure and the Union’s need for soldiers. Plus, Abraham Lincoln was a republican. But that statement would be biased, as another republican may see this as a good thing and a democrat a bad thing.
We have sorted everyone into a category, whether you realize it or not. Cliques are a more obvious method of sorting people into categories, but things like political parties, economic classes, and the titles of smart and dumb also do the same, yet more subtly. We use sorting as another form of description; as one may say: “that is Sam, he is a jock.” Although sorting can be beneficial at times, I feel the overall effect of it becoming a daily practice is at least a little harmful. Younger people are a lot easier to spot committing an act of sorting, but I find adults do this all the time, just more subtly.
The College Board made the decision to sort kids with the Advanced Placement System, basically spitting in kids eyes and telling them they’re stupid if they don’t get in. This then gives the student in the advanced placement class a feeling of superiority, as if they are better than those that aren’t in advanced placement. Adults were the ones that decided to sort people by religion, then turned that method of sorting into a heavily biased weapon of mass destruction–Christianity being a massive culprit of utilizing this weapon. Adults created our way of identifying people by where they are from and the color of their skin, which was also turned into a heavily biased weapon of mass destruction. That seems to be a pattern with this kind of sorting; the ones revolving around people themselves seeming to turn into weapons of mass destruction.
Later in life we began to segregate and separate. It seems nearly dystopian how we separated necessities via race, gender, ethnicity, religion, etc. Ranging from black people being limited to only being allowed to sit in the back of the bus to women not being allowed to work as politicians–which still seems to be a prominent issue in our modern day America. We seem to be destined for hatred, as separation seems to stem from the human ability to dislike.
I’ve seen many people separate themselves from another group, be it from social stigma or a personnel dislike from the group. But it still counts as separation. Adults separate from other adults after falling outs, breakups, divorces–things like that. Children are influenced by this, and then do the same. It’s a simple pattern that people don’t notice has been going on since the dawn of time. Sort, separate, and segregate.
Entry III: Morality
Many would say a child is morally gray until they reach adulthood. I’d like to say that this idea is completely false, and children know what they think is good and bad–they’re just influenced by their parents and pressured.
Whilst anticipation was building for the 2024 Presidential Election of Harris VS. Trump, I saw many people express who they’d vote for (if they legally could). Living in Oklahoma, the overwhelming majority was–of course–Trump. But there were many other students, teachers, and faculty that managed to express their support for Harris. My parents had raised me to love everyone, no matter their race, gender, sexuality, so on and so forth. But during this election, even after all the information was released about how terrible of a person Trump was within the concept of moral good, many of my classmates still showed undying support. Some would go out of their way to show it: wearing the bright red MAGA hats or cussing out other students that showed support for Harris, and then others expressed their support via actions–most negative and harmful.
I’ve seen students bully non-English-speaking students for not being able to speak English, I’ve seen vandalism on the bathroom walls of swastikas, slurs, and other words and symbols invented for the sole purpose to offend and taunt people, bullies would target the known queer students and students that struggled with their mental health. Seeing these actions had me thinking: Is this how their parents meant to raise them? Did their mothers teach them that bullying was a reliable way to exert your anger and slurs were a perfect way to address someone? I have only ever been raised by my parents–who taught me love, compassion, and empathy. But some of the people at my school–the ones that make fun of the special needs students, the hispanic or immigrant students, the queer students–are their parents really teaching them this hatred? Or is this something they could’ve possibly learned from the internet or from another student? Is this just another long game of telephone or Simon Says?
Do they see their actions as morally wrong? I’ve seen my classmates laugh at a student with Down Syndrome because they’d sent one of their friends to act as if they were best friends. It was cruel and disgusting, but no one said anything about it. I’ve been asked if I physically harm myself just because I sat at a lunch table relatively close to one of these antagonizer tables. If their parents are teaching them to act like this, then how are their parents treating others in the workplace? The grocery store? The park?
How sad of a person do you have to be to mold your child’s mind to put out so much hate in the world just because someone is different?
Entry IV: My Final Thoughts
I’m aware that my thoughts aren’t gonna be as loud or obnoxious as an adult–they’re not gonna be published in the daily newspaper like they’re important, but what I do know is that my thoughts are valid. I am not an animal–my voice should be heard, no matter the age, no matter the gender, no matter the race, no matter anything. People should not be ignored for their profile, and I fear that not everyone feels the same–even those that have lived my life five or six times more. I will not shield my opinions even when in the face of fear. No one should feel ignored, and that’s my final thought.
Sincerely,
Kerrigan Pruitt – 8th Grade Student
Author’s Note:
Children in my grade are filled with so much hate for being so young, and this piece is a written out form of my thoughts, wishes, and acknowledgements that I’ve accumulated at the end of my school year.
Kerrigan Pruitt | 13 | Stillwater, OK | @3kool_aid3 on TikTok
